Slome
17-01-2011, 19:21
Interview: Valentijn Overeem
Many may not know this, but Alistair Overeem isn’t the only Overeem fighting in the heavyweight division of mixed martial arts. In fact, Valentijn Overeem has more fights to his name than his younger brother Alistair with 53. Valentijn is the one that introduced Alistair to combat sports, without him who knows where Alistair would have ended up.
Valentijn hasn’t had the same success as his brother. With a record of 28 wins and 25 losses it’s safe to say that Valentijn has seen some highs and lows as a fighter. Two things he definitely does share with his younger brother are his drive to put on exciting fights and to be well rounded. Of Valentijn's 28 wins, 11 are by way of knockout, 16 by way of submission and through his 53 fights, only two have gone to the judge's decision.
http://94.100.120.129/1176400001-1176450000/1176427201-1176427300/1176427238_5_CpZx.jpeg
Valentijn was supposed to have fought Antonio “Big Foot” Silva back in December, but had to pull out due to injury. He has gotten back to training since the injury.
“I have been training hard at Golden Glory Breda and Amersfoort, my injury healed and I will be ready!” he went on to explain what was injured “It was a shoulder injury, but I am fine now”
Valentijn is a veteran of the sport with some highs and a lot of lows in his career. When asked about what he has left to prove and why he still wants to fight he had the following to say;
“I am fighting because I want to prove that I still can bang with the best. Like my brother Alistair I had a lot of personal problems, my last three victories prove I still have it in me.”
It’s interesting, because Alistair Overeem has talked about his problems towards the end of his light heavyweight career, cutting too much weight, running a magazine and his mother having cancer. Alistair has bounced back nicely, but things for Valentijn have been tougher, it will be exciting to see whether or not he can turn his current streak into something good and go out on a high.
http://94.100.121.68/1176400001-1176450000/1176427201-1176427300/1176427251_5_dHc3.jpeg
Having been scheduled to fight Antonio Silva in December, one has to wonder what would have happened had Valentijn not been injured and pulled out a victory. Antonio won against Mike Kyle, Valentijn’s replacement. If Valentijn had fought and beat Antonio, would he have been fighting Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski or Sergei Kharitonov in the Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament?
When asked about possibly missing the chance to compete in the tournament, Valentijn remained upbeat and focused on the task at hand.
“Who knows I still might take part anything can happen in tournaments. Let’s first win this fight and see how things go.”
Ray Sefo is an interesting character and he is Valentijn’s next opponent in the cage at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva this February 12th in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Sefo is actually a K1 level kick boxer, who has also competed in boxing and mixed martial arts. He is another fighter that has had an up and down career, but continues competing for the love of the sport.
What makes the fight with Sefo interesting is the fact that Sefo had an altercation with Alistair Overeem a little over a year ago. Alistair was upset that Sefo was cheering after Alistair lost one of his fights in K1 and he confronted Sefo about it.
Alistair has told the media that he has buried the hatchet, but something tells me he wouldn’t mind mixing it up in the cage or ring at some point with Ray. When asked about what he thinks about Sefo as an opponent and what the altercation between Sefo and his brother means, Valetijn doesn’t really care.
“He is a K-1 veteran and is a good striker, his ground skills I do not know about them. He is just the fourth opponent who I will defeat in the first round.”
Valentijn doesn’t really care about anything else but adding another name to his win column. Hopefully this is the kind of attitude that will keep Valentijn on the winning path.
http://94.100.119.225/1176400001-1176450000/1176427201-1176427300/1176427258_5_4rKX.jpeg
I asked Valentijn what he thinks about the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament and it is no surprise as to who he thinks will be in the finals.
“…I think it’s [the tournament] great for the fans as they get to see fights they have been waiting on for a long time.”
“[My] Golden Glory teammate [Sergei] Kharitonov of course, he has been training hard in an MMA training camp in Thailand, I expect him and my brother [to be] in the finals.”
Many fans expect Alistair to make it to the finals, but there are just as many fans expecting Werdum or Fedor to make it there as well. The other side of the bracket could be Kharitonov’s to win. He should be able to get by Andrei Arlovski, but Josh Barnett would really be a tough test to pass to get to the finals, but Valentijn doesn’t seem to think so. In any case, should the tournament finalise the way Valentijn sees it, we will see a rematch between Alistair and the last man to beat him, Sergei Kharitonov.
Scott Coker recently told journalist Ariel Helwani that Valentijn’s upcoming fight with Sefo will be the third line reserve match for the heavyweight tournament. Coker raised concerns about the fact that he doesn’t think Valentijn would want to fight his brother and vice-versa, that is why it is the third reserve match.
With all the talk in North America about certain camps not wanting to fight friends, teammates or family, it is interesting to get Valentijn’s take on fighting people that are close to him.
“At Golden Glory in Breda Holland we have a day called woensdag gehakt dag (meat day) we spar for ten rounds to knock each other’s heads off, including me and my brother. Saki fought Alistair with one hand and still almost won surprisingly with a spinning high kick. Anything can happen GG [Golden Glory] stands for quality. We will see when the time comes.”
Obviously Velentijn isn’t against fighting teammates and it appears that he would be willing to fight his brother Alistair if he had to. Golden Glory sounds like the type of camp Dana White and company would love to be working with.
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Many may not know this, but Alistair Overeem isn’t the only Overeem fighting in the heavyweight division of mixed martial arts. In fact, Valentijn Overeem has more fights to his name than his younger brother Alistair with 53. Valentijn is the one that introduced Alistair to combat sports, without him who knows where Alistair would have ended up.
Valentijn hasn’t had the same success as his brother. With a record of 28 wins and 25 losses it’s safe to say that Valentijn has seen some highs and lows as a fighter. Two things he definitely does share with his younger brother are his drive to put on exciting fights and to be well rounded. Of Valentijn's 28 wins, 11 are by way of knockout, 16 by way of submission and through his 53 fights, only two have gone to the judge's decision.
http://94.100.120.129/1176400001-1176450000/1176427201-1176427300/1176427238_5_CpZx.jpeg
Valentijn was supposed to have fought Antonio “Big Foot” Silva back in December, but had to pull out due to injury. He has gotten back to training since the injury.
“I have been training hard at Golden Glory Breda and Amersfoort, my injury healed and I will be ready!” he went on to explain what was injured “It was a shoulder injury, but I am fine now”
Valentijn is a veteran of the sport with some highs and a lot of lows in his career. When asked about what he has left to prove and why he still wants to fight he had the following to say;
“I am fighting because I want to prove that I still can bang with the best. Like my brother Alistair I had a lot of personal problems, my last three victories prove I still have it in me.”
It’s interesting, because Alistair Overeem has talked about his problems towards the end of his light heavyweight career, cutting too much weight, running a magazine and his mother having cancer. Alistair has bounced back nicely, but things for Valentijn have been tougher, it will be exciting to see whether or not he can turn his current streak into something good and go out on a high.
http://94.100.121.68/1176400001-1176450000/1176427201-1176427300/1176427251_5_dHc3.jpeg
Having been scheduled to fight Antonio Silva in December, one has to wonder what would have happened had Valentijn not been injured and pulled out a victory. Antonio won against Mike Kyle, Valentijn’s replacement. If Valentijn had fought and beat Antonio, would he have been fighting Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski or Sergei Kharitonov in the Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament?
When asked about possibly missing the chance to compete in the tournament, Valentijn remained upbeat and focused on the task at hand.
“Who knows I still might take part anything can happen in tournaments. Let’s first win this fight and see how things go.”
Ray Sefo is an interesting character and he is Valentijn’s next opponent in the cage at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva this February 12th in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Sefo is actually a K1 level kick boxer, who has also competed in boxing and mixed martial arts. He is another fighter that has had an up and down career, but continues competing for the love of the sport.
What makes the fight with Sefo interesting is the fact that Sefo had an altercation with Alistair Overeem a little over a year ago. Alistair was upset that Sefo was cheering after Alistair lost one of his fights in K1 and he confronted Sefo about it.
Alistair has told the media that he has buried the hatchet, but something tells me he wouldn’t mind mixing it up in the cage or ring at some point with Ray. When asked about what he thinks about Sefo as an opponent and what the altercation between Sefo and his brother means, Valetijn doesn’t really care.
“He is a K-1 veteran and is a good striker, his ground skills I do not know about them. He is just the fourth opponent who I will defeat in the first round.”
Valentijn doesn’t really care about anything else but adding another name to his win column. Hopefully this is the kind of attitude that will keep Valentijn on the winning path.
http://94.100.119.225/1176400001-1176450000/1176427201-1176427300/1176427258_5_4rKX.jpeg
I asked Valentijn what he thinks about the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament and it is no surprise as to who he thinks will be in the finals.
“…I think it’s [the tournament] great for the fans as they get to see fights they have been waiting on for a long time.”
“[My] Golden Glory teammate [Sergei] Kharitonov of course, he has been training hard in an MMA training camp in Thailand, I expect him and my brother [to be] in the finals.”
Many fans expect Alistair to make it to the finals, but there are just as many fans expecting Werdum or Fedor to make it there as well. The other side of the bracket could be Kharitonov’s to win. He should be able to get by Andrei Arlovski, but Josh Barnett would really be a tough test to pass to get to the finals, but Valentijn doesn’t seem to think so. In any case, should the tournament finalise the way Valentijn sees it, we will see a rematch between Alistair and the last man to beat him, Sergei Kharitonov.
Scott Coker recently told journalist Ariel Helwani that Valentijn’s upcoming fight with Sefo will be the third line reserve match for the heavyweight tournament. Coker raised concerns about the fact that he doesn’t think Valentijn would want to fight his brother and vice-versa, that is why it is the third reserve match.
With all the talk in North America about certain camps not wanting to fight friends, teammates or family, it is interesting to get Valentijn’s take on fighting people that are close to him.
“At Golden Glory in Breda Holland we have a day called woensdag gehakt dag (meat day) we spar for ten rounds to knock each other’s heads off, including me and my brother. Saki fought Alistair with one hand and still almost won surprisingly with a spinning high kick. Anything can happen GG [Golden Glory] stands for quality. We will see when the time comes.”
Obviously Velentijn isn’t against fighting teammates and it appears that he would be willing to fight his brother Alistair if he had to. Golden Glory sounds like the type of camp Dana White and company would love to be working with.
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