Alistair Overeem Still Wants Brock Lesnar Fight, Blames Old Team For UFC Losses
UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem has had a rocky road since joining the promotion as one of the best prospects of of 2011. Going 2-2 for the UFC, ‘Reem’ went on a two fight skid after a successful debut against Brock Lesnar at UFC 141; getting knocked out by Travis Browne and Antonio Silva in rather spectacular fashion.
His most recent win was a decision over Frank Mir at UFC 169, and the Dutchman will return to face Ben Rothwell in September, at Fight Night 50. Arguably the biggest win of his UFC stint was against the former champion Lesnar, and Overeem spoke with Sportskeeda about the WWE star and more:
“I expressed that after my bout with Frank Mir. I do believe that Brock Lesnar will be coming back, I don’t want to call it from retirement, but he is a huge draw, big guy, sells tickets. So that’s a fight I would be interested in. I would like to think that I am on that track now. I have recently moved to New Mexico and have been training with the likes of Jon Jones, Travis Browne, Andrei Arlovski…even Frank Mir comes to that gym. So I think my route to the title has already started and I am probably 2 wins away from a title shot.”
Overeem’s calling out of Lesnar at UFC 169 was not met with great reception, and UFC president Dana White was not very amused. Neither was he happy when Overeem was embroiled in drug test failures, a trend that has unfortunately become very much commonplace in MMA. But Overeem doesn’t think that testosterone was his biggest worry at that time, he feels he had the wrong camp:
“I do think that my losses were contributed to by my team at that time, because you need to have good sparring partners, good coaches that take care of the direction of the fight, the overall training regimen. I do think that was lacking in the 2 losses. But then again, it is sports and as you saw with Spain, who were world champions twice and we (Netherlands) destroyed them completely and couldn’t even get through to the finals. But that’s what happens, you are on a winning streak and then people change, teams change, people get better, new opponents arise and I did drop the ball a few times because you are condemned to do that. But everyone can be assured that I am always working hard, always training hard, put together the right team behind me and I do feel that a new title reign is coming soon for me.”
Overeem faces in Rothwell a stern challenge, but he is beatable. I’d go as far as to say that if ‘Reem’ can’t get past ‘Big’ Ben, then he should probably give up on his dream of a heavyweight title shot. Equally, a win wouldn’t really put him that much closer. Perhaps a fight with Junior dos Santos is on the cards after a victory in September?
“Definitely. It’s going to happen I feel. But first, I just got scheduled with Ben Rothwell, so my focus is on him right now.”
A couple of straight wins, including some legitimate top 10 victories could well see the Dutch kickboxing champion finally live up to his potential. He has a great team in Jackson’s MMA, all the tools as a martial artist, perhaps it is his attitude that needs adjusting. Who knows, maybe that front kick from Travis Browne knocked some sense in to him.
