Alistair Overeem will make his long awaited debut in the UFC this weekend at UFC 141 where he will take on former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in the number one contender match.
Despite the fact that this may be Overeem’s first fight in the UFC, he no stranger to the fight scene.
He holds records of 10–4 in K-1 and 35-11-1 in MMA and currently holds the Strikeforce World Heavyweight belt, the Dream Heavyweight belt and won the 2010 K-1 Grand Prix.
Overeem is the first athlete in combat sports to hold three current Heavyweight belts among top tier promotions. The UFC Heavyweight belt is the only major title he needs to add to his collection.
The transition into the UFC has been a difficult road for Overeem. He bares scars from being burnt by his former gym and management at Golden Glory, telling The Roar: “I will never work with the Golden Glory management and trainers in the future”.
When asked about K-1 and his money issues with the Japanese promotion his response was simple: “my last couple of fights I didn’t get paid so that is the end of my time there”.
His problematic relationships have been no secret. It has been a topic of conversation in the fight community and he has also publicly documented his feelings on the issue in his popular online documentaries ‘The Reem’.
Alistair explains that since 2004 he has been followed by a camera and therefore has an incredible amount of footage documenting his career.
He exclusively tells The Roar: “I have had so many ups and downs in my life we are looking to release a movie about the highlights career”.
Alistair’s training camp for Lesnar has been interrupted numerous times which included leaving Las Vegas to deal with his mother’s illness in Holland along with the recent drug testing saga with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“It has been a preparation with some distractions” says Overeem, but he is focused on the future. His priority is fighting Brock Lesnar in the UFC.
“There are still a few challenges, and those challenges are the two guys (Cain Valasquez and Junior Dos Santos) who are ranked above of me so I can’t wait to fight the two of them until I am number one”.
Overeem began to train back in August even though he didn’t know who he was fighting or when.
“It’s been three and a half months so my condition is good. My shape and focus is there”
“I’m very excited to fight Lesnar. I am very excited to fight in the UFC and I think the fans are excited that I am back in action”.
Fans believe that Lesnar will most likely stick to what he knows best: wrestling.
Alistair is best known for his stand up game and just like his size he has huge confidence in his potential to beat the former UFC Heavyweight champion.
“I see the fight going one, no more than two rounds. I am going to destroy him. Stand up, ground – wherever the fight takes me. He’s not going to survive. Actually, I feel I’ll take him out the first round”.
“People forget that I have a lot of submission moves. I am confident in my ground game. I have around 65 fights so I have a lot of experience coming into this bout”.
This fight embodies the age old argument of striker vs. grappler as on paper Alistair could potentially have the greatest stand up skills in MMA today.
The online documentary ‘The Reem’ gives MMA fans the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the man himself. Painting a picture of who he is, where he’s been and what he’s about.
If you haven’t watched it yet, do yourself a favour and take the time out to watch snippets of his story. You will be pleasantly surprised.
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