Alistair Overeem Claims Injury Kept Him From Accepting Dos Santos Fights

(just as I thought, you have a severe case of yellow belly Alistair. I want you take take one ‘man up‘ pill per day)

Alistair Overeem has had a mixed bag of results since joining the UFC back in 2011; the former Dream and Strikeforce heavyweight boss debuted successfully against Brock Lesnar at UFC 141, before failing a drugs test in the lead up to a UFC 146 bout with Junior Dos Santos. ‘The Reem’ then ate a slice of humble pie at UFC 156, after taunting Antonio Silva in the run up to their clash.

The crushing third round knockout that February 2013 night seemed to awaken ‘The Demolition Man’, and he looked to be on course early on in his Fight Night bout against Travis Browne, last August. ‘Hapa’ crushed his hopes with a front kick to the chin and Overeem was left fighting for his contract at 169. The fight against Frank Mir was a less than stellar, but dominant, showing.

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UFC President Dana White was none too pleased with Reem’s showing against Mir, and blasted him for ‘playing it safe’. White then revealed that Overeem has been ducking Junior Dos Santos, and that the Dutch kickboxer is ‘scared to face JDS’. Well, Overeem spoke to MMAFighting.com after the comments were made and gave his two cents:

“I’m hurt,” he said. “Rib problem. So first [I] need an ETA on recovery time. [It] would be unwise to accept any fight before knowing exactly what’s up. [I] wouldn’t want to pull out of any fight [due to] being unfit, especially an anticipated fight as this one.”

The story goes that Overeem has actually turned down two bouts with Dos Santos; a three round co-main event in Las Vegas and a five round main event in Brazil. It could be argued that injuries are commonplace in the world of MMA, but the same could also be said for excuses.

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The injury that Overeem claims to have sustained could surely not have come from Frank Mir; the former UFC Heavyweight champion landed a mere five strikes during his outing against Overeem. Perhaps an injury in training for Mir had contributed to his ‘safe’ gameplan on that night?

I’d still be very interested in seeing a bout between Dos Santos and Overeem, although the result maybe too predictable. Overeem’s chin has failed many times, whereas Dos Santos’ seems to be lined with granite.

Outer Photo: USA TODAY Sports