My colleague Ratish Menon and I were fortunate to catch up with Alistair Overeem, and discussed his time in K1, Strikeforce and the UFC as well as the current state of the heavyweight division, and where he sees it going forward. Overeem talked about his upcoming fight with Ben Rothwell, and his rivalry with Junior Dos Santos. We also discussed a potential return of Brock Lesnar to the UFC.
Below is a full audio recording of the interveiw. We have also included an excerpt from the interview for those who can’t listen.
Alistair Overeem Interview by Cmd Beaker on Mixcloud
Akhilesh Gannavarapu: You have been a pioneer in the sense that for the longest time, you have had a kickboxing career run parallel to your ascension to the top of the MMA world. How did you manage to compete and be successful in both these demanding sports at the same time?
Alistair Overeem: There were a couple of reasons. I was training for my stand-up at the time with the Golden Glory Gym, with the likes of Gokhan Sakhi and others. Training with these guys was making me sharp, hard kicks & punches, standing with these guys in the sparring session along with the coach who had also trained the late great Ramon Dekkers, made me ready for K1. MMA…again, makes you very creative, so I brought those techniques with me into K1 which they were not used to a lot, and those things made me very successful in the K-1 and led me to the championship title in 2010.
AG: After your debut in the UFC, when you knocked out Brock Lesnar, you were touted as the next name for heavyweight title contender ship. However, a couple of losses to Bigfoot Silva & Travis Browne seemingly derailed the Overeem train heading to the UFC HW championship. Is the title a goal of yours and how many wins away do you think you are from getting a crack at it?
AO: Well, 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.
RM: Your losses were attributed to your moving away from the Golden Glory camp and even your battle with maintaining correct Testosterone-to-Epitestosterone T/E levels by many in the media, including one of your original trainers Bas Rutten. What was going on in your mind at that time when you had those back-to-back losses?
AO: 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.
AG: You have been moving camps a lot since your debut in the UFC and after training out of Florida with the Blackzillians and then in Thailand for your fight with Frank Mir, you have recently made home at Greg Jacksons’ gym. How have your initial feelings been about training with the new camp, alongside fellow heavyweights such as Arlovski and Travis Browne?
AO: Travis has been injured since his fight with Werdum, so I haven’t been able to train with him. And Arlovski just had his fight, so he isn’t here. But Jon Jones has come to the aid and honestly, it’s been very very good and I have been very focused. For me, I feel that this is a great gym for me to develop. Not saying that I won’t be training in Thailand anymore, because I do like it there too. But for the time being, I am going to be here.
RM: Your rivalry with Junior Dos Santos has been in the making for over 2 years now and a bout between the 2 most premier strikers in the UFC HW division is a hotly anticipated one. He being the gatekeeper for the title shot, do you have any interest in a match-up with him?
AO: 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.
AG: With the upcoming fight with Ben Rothwell being a part of the Fight Night card instead of a PPV, do you think it is a step down after beating someone like Frank Mir, who is a legend in the sport?
AO: I see that as a step up as the fight will be broadcast on FOX and there will be more viewers than a PPV, so I think that it is a step up as it reaches a broader audience. Plus, it really is a UFC decision to make and I am not really interested in the dynamics of it
AG: Who among the current names in the UFC HW division do you see as your next big challenges?
AO: I think I will be fighting Junior after this fight.
RM: There has been a wave of controversy surrounding the testosterone usage in the UFC, with the UFC discontinuing it early this year and then having the fighters getting caught on it and the subsequent actions against them. What has been your reaction to it all and your thoughts on getting in the cage against a guy who is coming off suspension himself, due to elevated testosterone levels in his last fight?
AO: I am not aware of this and I would have to read up on it to be able to comment.
AG: You have been fighting for over 15 years now and have had you fair share of wear & tear happen to you. How long do you see yourself in the fighting game and any plans of teaching or being involved in the martial arts world after you finish fighting?
AO: I have been doing this for 20 years and I do want to be competing for as long as my body holds up, and my body seems to be holding up pretty good. I am motivated and I love this sport, so I see myself doing this for a couple of years more for sure.
RM: You are known for your ability to finish fights. But in the last fight, it looked like you played it safe. Will this be your strategy going forward?
AO: My strategy has always been to knock people out. But these days, the Octagon is a little bigger and there is a lot of movement in there so you have to be prepared for things training-wise, but people can be rest assured I still go out there looking for a knockout.
RM: After your fight with Mir at UFC 169, you called out Brock Lesnar. Do you think there is some unfinished business between you two? If, and this is a big if, everything worked out and Lesnar returns to the UFC next year, would you be willing to fight him again?
AO: Yes, 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.
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