Alistair Overeem: Hasn't defended Strikeforce belt in 2 yearsThe last three years have been an up and down battle for Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, who after losing five of his nine fights between 2006 and 2007, turned 2008 and 2009 into his years.

A Pride FC and 2 Hot 2 Handle veteran, Alistair Overeem has competed professionally 44 times by his own age of twenty-nine, an unprecedented feat for an athlete his age, and the sport he’s vested his time and effort in.

Alistair finished off 2007 in November with a Strikeforce debut, where in the second round of his fight with Paul Buentello, he rained thunderous knees down upon his grounded opponent’s body with the end result being a win by submission, and claim to the new Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship. Alistair became Strikeforce’s first crowned heavyweight that evening.

Yet, since his win over Buentello, it’s been more than two years since Alistair has appeared in the promotion to defend his title, instead taking fights in DREAM, Ultimate Glory (a Netherlands based promotion), and 2009’s year-end Dynamite show, where he dispatched headstrong veteran Kazuyuki Fujita by way of a first-round, knee-meets-face knockout.

Dan Hardy: Faces St. Pierre on March 27th at UFC 111In a decade’s time, our sport’s flourished from its humble grassroots into modern pop-culture phenomenon. In this time, names have come and gone. The fighters we know fade into contention irrelevance, often by way of some newcomer making his own name by dispatching them.

With an unprecedented eighteen wins in his home country of England, British countryman Dan Hardy will look to make good on becoming the first English fighter to receive a title shot in the UFC’s welterweight division. Coming off a convincing win over Mike “Quick” Swick, an impressive back-and-forth war with Marcus Davis, and a violent knock-out win over Rory Markham, Hardy is now set to face welterweight champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre at UFC 111, in the event’s main bout.

So it goes. The more established fighting athletes of today fade as they age, while those a generation younger will develop under the same pretense. This is how it goes in every sport, not just fighting. Yet, I still find myself reminding myself that “hey, some of these guys are pushing 40 now.”

Be it through progression of age, or even effort, this is the pretense under which we will find ourselves introduced to new talent, new names and new faces within our sport.

David Hojak: ... will pay good money to watch Carwin devastate MirOn ESPN SportsCenter Wednesday, Brock Lesnar appeared for the first time in front of public media to offer insights on his recovery process spanning the last several months, including addressing rumors that he’s staring down possibilities of never fighting again, and dispelling rumors that have somehow come to fruition since his mysterious disappearance in July of 2009.

As Brock confirmed for fans that he’d be returning as the formal UFC Heavyweight Champion around the middle of this year, attention quickly shifted to the debacle that’s come of his absence. Shane Carwin is winning fights convincingly despite no obvious timeline for a title shot. Frank Mir recently submitted Cheick Kongo at UFC 106, which puts him right back on the winning track. The two will fight at UFC 111 in March. However, one looming question that inevitably came up today addressed the status of the UFC heavyweight championship title, sitting dormant since July of 2009, when Brock last defended it against Frank Mir.

Diego Sanchez: Has a headache...Following a convincing and one-sided loss at the hands of UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn, lightweight contender Diego Sanchez seems to have elected to test his mettle at Welterweight yet again.

2007 was a rough year for Diego. In April, Diego seemingly found in opponent Josh Koscheck the first competitor capable of deflecting his aggression and tactically diverting his onrush. Diego would lose for the first time professionally by way of unanimous decision, and obviously not deterred by his loss, would go on to fight again just four months later.

At UFC 76, Diego stepped into the octagon against Jon Fitch, a wily veteran whose kill-chart includes recognized competitors such as Luigi Fioravanti, Roan Carneiro, Shonie Carter and Brock Larson. Again, the fight between Diego and Fitch would result in a loss for Sanchez, this time by way of split decision. This, the second loss of his career, would be the first time the accomplished Ultimate Fighter reality series winner had tasted consecutive defeats.