Alistair Overeem kills the Badr Hari myth

Written by Lyman Hoyt   |   Monday, January 05 2009

Alistair Overeem heads to a neutral corner following his second knockdown of Badr Hari.  The referee would wave off the fight moments later awarding Overeem a devestatingly dominant win over the K-1 "bad boy" who now has serious questions to address about his future as a professional prizefighter (Photo: Susumu Nagao)

Like the old saying goes “karma is a bitch”.  More importantly, its outcomes are unavoidable even by fight promoters trying to make money off the misdeeds of a monster “heel”.  K-1 decided not to suspend Badr Hari following his antics at the World GP Finals for the simple reason that as Japan’s most hated fighter he presented too much opportunity for profit.  Hari was unrepentant following his DQ loss to Remy Bonjasky, and following his non-suspension amped up his “bad boy” rants in advance of his Fields Dynamite! matchup against Alistair Overeem. 

Overeem himself wasn’t the most popular fighter after the DREAM 6 “no contest” against Mirko Cro Cop.  In a match where Overeem was completely in control, he earned some antipathy from the Japanese fighting public due to his repeated efforts to use Cro Cop’s testicles as a speed bag.    He may not have been the subject of disdain to the same level as Hari, but he was an unlikely vessel to set right the order in the fight sport universe.

Some speculated that the Dynamite! matchup against Hari was a veiled attempt by FEG to get rid of Overeem.  Though the fight was announced as the first of two battles between Hari and Overeem, with a future rematch under MMA rules, many Japanese fight experts suggested that the general idea was to use Overeem as an impressive “showcase” fight for Hari.  A devastating victory by Hari would further enhance his marketability and with an overwhelming victory the desire for a rematch would be negated.

With the caveat that this sort of histrionics is often more fight promotion than anything else, Hari was in rare form in the days before the Overeem fight.  Hari commented in interviews that he didn’t care about titles, rather that his motivation was the fact that he “likes to hurt people” and “enjoys knocking his opponents out”.  K-1 gleefully spliced these comments into the promo video played in the arena before the fight, along with Hari’s disdainful comments about mixed martial arts where he sniffed that the “real fighters” were in K-1.  Granted, those statements are someone ironic in light of Hari’s 0-1 record under MMA rules with his loss in :22 seconds via tapout to a fighter with a 4-5 career record named Igor Kirsis.  Still, Hari’s borderline irrational rants were all part and parcel of his new “monster heel” persona.

After all of the hype about MMA fighters “inferiority” and all of Hari’s rants about his delight in hurting opponents, it only took Alistair Overeem just over two minutes to finish off his opponent.  Overeem didn’t just beat Hari, he dominated him from the opening bell en route to a TKO stoppage.  There were no “flash knockdowns” such as the one Hari suffered in the first round of his fight against Bonjasky; both times Hari hit the canvas it was emphatic, perfectly placed right hooks that did the damage.  Hari landed a couple of good shots but Overeem walked right through them.

At least part of the K-1 formula to make Hari the promotion’s most hated fighter came to pass as he was roundly and mercilessly booed and jeered by the live crowd at the Saitama Super Arena.  These boos weren’t like the almost playful catcalls that greet a fighter like Yoshihiro Akiyama, but rather a loud reaction that you’d expect from an American pro wrestling crowd to a hated “heel” (or John Cena).  This is particularly significant since Japanese fans seldom, if ever, boo anyone.  Even in pro wrestling it’s unusual to hear a passionately negative reaction against even a hated “heel”.  Certainly in MMA and K-1 the reaction to Hari was unprecedented, and may have been the most negative reaction to anyone not only in fight sports but all of Japanese professional sports in recent memory.

The disgust over Hari made Overeem’s victory that much sweeter and his postfight “promo” that much more effective.  As Hari almost sulked to the back with his entourage following his beatdown, Overeem gestured in his direction with the following comments:

"For all MMA fighters and for everybody who think respect is important....there you go"

Not surprisingly, Overeem was cheered wildly both before the fight and to an even greater extent afterwards.  It was an almost WWE-esque “babyface” turn, albeit one that was completely unexpected by FEG.  Overeem went from an obnoxious “gaijin” who’d yell about how he wanted to fight Cro Cop after his victories to the conduit of justice and fair play in fight sports.  Overeem, basically a good guy who goes about his business the right way, never appeared comfortable in his “outsider” role and looked pleased by the warm reaction from the live crowd.

Obviously, this does nothing but further enhance Overeem’s stock both in the promotion and the sport as a whole.  Overeem was written off following a disastrous run during 2006-2007 when he lost five fights in seven tries.  In all fairness, his losses came to an insanely high level of opposition including Fabrico Werdum, Sergei Kharitonov, Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, Ricardo Arona and “Shogun” Rua.  Still, he was perceived by many  to be on the downside of his professional fighting career at the ripe old age of 27.

He began his comeback in late 2007 by defeating rugged veteran Paul Buentello for the vacant Strikeforce heavyweight title, a belt he still officially holds though has yet to defend.  He made his DREAM debut at DREAM 4 against overmatched Korean ssireum specialist Lee Tay-Hyun, knocking out his opponent in :36 seconds.  He began to be taken seriously following a submission victory in just over a minute against enigmatic Mark Hunt at DREAM 5 and was dominating Cro Cop prior to the stoppage and “no contest” verdict.  With a victory in November at an event in Holland over past his prime Gary Goodridge thrown in for good measure, the victory of Hari has brought Overeem back to the zenith of his profession.

The biggest storyline coming out of the event, however, is the future of Badr Hari.  Overeem not only destroyed Hari in the fight but more significantly may have killed the “myth” surrounding the Turkish kickboxer.  In a way, watching Hari try to find some sort of composure on the canvas before skulking to the dressing room was eerily reminiscent of watching a beaten Mike Tyson trying to find his displaced mouthpiece right before his fight against Buster Douglas was stopped at the Tokyo Dome nearly two decades before.  In both instances it was evident that there was more going on than one fighter being the better man on a given night; rather it was if a veneer of invulnerability had been wiped away.

The myth surrounding Hari suggested that he was too big, too strong and his punches too powerful for any fighter to withstand.  Against the powerfully built “Demolition Man”, who stands 6’5” and weighs 254 pounds, Hari looked almost slight and at several points in the fight was clearly being manhandled by his opponent much in the same way that Lennox Lewis used his size and strength to intimidate the aforementioned Mike Tyson early in their 2002 fight.  Furthermore, Overeem didn’t seem fazed in the least by Hari’s much vaunted power.  As he stalked Hari around the ring late in the fight, Overeem ate several powerful shots from the former K-1 heavyweight champion and shook them off with almost no ill effect whatsoever.   More significantly, he beat Hari at his “own game” under K-1 kickboxing rules with almost shocking ease.  Overeem does have some experience in kickboxing with a 3-2 record but he’s primarily an MMA fighter.  The implications of this defeat is similar to Georges St. Pierre or Anderson Silva hopping in the ring with Manny Pacquaio or Floyd Maywether, Jr. and dominating him en route to a lopsided victory.

The significance of the destruction of a “myth of invulnerability” possessed by a fighter can’t be overestimated.  Many boxing pundits suggest that Tyson’s long, inexorable decline as a fighter began on this night in Tokyo and was finished by Evander Holyfield in 1996.  As much as his power, strength or skill as a fighter Tyson relied on his ability to intimidate his opponents.  Many men who fought Tyson during his prime were essentially beaten before they entered the ring.  Hari has also enjoyed a similar aura of intimidation.  His supporters were quick to suggest that he was simply too much of a “badass” to be constrained by the rules as they attempted to rationalize his World GP disqualification.  Their silence in the aftermath of the Overeem defeat suggests that even his staunchest supporters sense that Hari is a beaten man on a spiritual level much more than simply losing a fight.

And here’s the biggest irony to come out of the Overeem destruction:  it could be the best thing that ever happens to Badr Hari.  It does what even a K-1 suspension would not have been able to, since Hari must now examine his future as a professional fighter.  Had K-1 suspended him, he could have continued his maniacal ranting and raving until he found his way back into the ring.  Now, he has a lot of questions that he needs to face about himself and his career.  He’s a fighter with amazing skill and abundant charisma, but the loss to Overeem hopefully has demonstrated that he’s not able to just show up and overwhelm another top level athlete with sheer aggression and anger.  Best case scenario, he works on his technical striking skills and begins to approach the sport with the commitment and dedication of a professional.  Should he choose this route, there’s no reason that he can’t regain his status as one of the top K-1 heavyweights and most popular attractions in the sport.

Should he chose the other path his days as a top level heavyweight could already be over.  A far less experienced kickboxer than Hari left a video template for how to beat him using superior strength and sharp, technical punching combinations.  There’s no reason that other fighters won’t be able to execute the same tactical fight plan.  Hari can continue blustering about how he just “likes to hurt people”, but in the aftermath of his almost routine destruction at the hands of Overeem that attitude will be as pathetically comical as Mike Tyson snarling that he wants to eat Lennox Lewis’ non-existent children.

In just over two minutes, Alistair Overeem became a superstar while Badr Hari became, for the moment at least, completely irrelevant.  How each man reacts to his newfound status within the fight game will be watched with extreme interest.
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