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View Full Version : Interview Alistair Overeem op "The 5 'O Clock Spotlight"



TheCarnage
28-01-2011, 15:26
Hey allemaal, mijn eerste echte post! Ik vond dit interview met Alistair was wel leuk om te lezen hoop dat jullie er wat aan hebben.



2010 was a great for Alistair, The Strikeforce title defense against Rogers, The K-1 Grand Prix title and The Dream win for the belt over Todd Duffee. I am curious to know what your personal favorite was.

“I’m proud of all my accomplishments but if I have to pick one; it would be the K-1 Grand Prix title. People have to understand that winning the K-1 is very prestigious especially where I come from. The other reason I pick the K-1 title is because it’s rather unique that a M.M.A. champion wins the title, therefore it’s something nobody has done in the past, so that’s makes it more special.”

After such an amazing 2010 how do you meet or exceed your accomplishments from last year in 2011?

”Although 2010 was an amazing year I think 2011 can even top that; I’m entering the biggest M.M.A. Grand Prix with the best M.M.A. fighters. I will face top 5 fighter Werdum in my first fight and Fedor is in the tournament as well so there enough challenges for me in 2011.”


Is it true that your focus for 2011 will remain on MMA and Strikeforce or will you look for other opportunities in Japan be it, K-1 or Dream?

”I love to fight and I’m always looking for fights. If my schedule allows it then I will fight in Japan, at the moment my focus is the tournament so I’m taking one fight at a time. You can never predict how things go, I’m happy to fight Werdum in a couple of months.”

Knowing from our last interview and others you have done that you have hard feelings towards M-1 and the way they have dodged you fighting Fedor, are you glad to finally get a chance on the same bracket as him in the Strikeforce Grand Prix?

”Yes, sure a fight with Fedor is something I wanted for a long time but most important is that the fans want to see that fight. The only concern I have with M-1 is that the way they do business, they are very unpredictable and always find a way to hostage Strikeforce/Showtime to delay a fight or demand some crazy stuff. I don’t like it when people are trying to use boxing strategic to set up fights, we all know how boxing is doing popularity wise and the reason is that management is getting involved with promoting. So having a company co-promoting a show where there fighter will be main event is asking for problems. When they announced the tournament and told the contracts were signed I was very proud Strikeforce set up a great tournament like that but now hearing Vadim telling the media that there needs to be extra testing then I’m thinking; “here we go again”. The commission in the USA test fighters and now all of a sudden he’s demanding extra testing, I never heard Vadim asking this when Fedor was fighting in Japan and even on his own M-1 shows they don’t test at all! So my guess is that they are looking for excuses already.”

Do you agree with the gambling odds makers in their placement with Fedor as the favorite to win the tournament even over yourself?

”The gambling odds makers they have to make a living so they are most of the time pretty accurate. The funny thing is that I mentioned it when Dana was telling I wasn’t a top 10 fighter. When I fought Brett Rogers he was ranked on all the websites higher than me. So a friend of mine called me up and told me that I was the favorite according to all the bookmakers. For me that was a reason that rankings don’t say anything and that bookmakers know what they are talking about, although I think they are wrong this time because I will win the tournament. No seriously for me it’s no surprise Fedor is the favorite to win the tournament, his accomplishments in the past are almost perfect but we are living today and I will prove that the bookmakers can’t always be right.”


How important is avenging your loss over Werdum to you and how do you anticipate that fight will go?

”It’s always nice to settle the score but I’m a person that looks in the future instead of looking back. The first time we fought I did OK; he was the favorite and was outweighing me. But this time I think we are looking at two different fighters, Werdum has improved but I improved as well, now we will see which fighter have improved more over the years. I think I have enough weapons to finish him standing. My guess is that he wants the fight to go to the ground but the fight starts standing so it will be interesting how this will play out.”


Do you expect Fedor to win his bout against Antonio Silva and if he lost would you be disappointed at another missed opportunity to face him?


”I expect Fedor to win but it would be very interesting to see how Fedor is going to do. His last two fights weren’t very impressive; he had troubles against Rogers and lost to Werdum. This fight will show if Fedor has grown just like the sport has evolved. You have to understand that if you are not fighting that often, the level of fighting will grow without you anyways. Look at most ex-Pride stars are doing, not very well if you ask me. So I will not be surprised if Silva wins. I rather like to fight Fedor over Silva because it’s a fight everybody is waiting for but if Silva manages to win then he should be in the semi finals.”


In your opinion, do you think that if you win the Grand Prix that the rankings should reflect Alistair Overeem as the number 1 heavyweight MMA fighter in the world?

”“I don’t really care about rankings but you can make a very good case having me on the number one spot (if I win the tournament) especially now Cain Velasquez is not fighting this year. That’s why I’m hoping that promotions can work together to see who’s really the number one fighter in the world, if that’s not happing then you always will have room for debate.”

Will we ever see Alistair Overeem in the UFC or are your multi-promotional opportunities across the globe too lucrative to give up? Please also give me some insight on what it would take to get you in the UFC.

”You know people have to understand it’s not only a money thing. If you sign a UFC deal you are exclusive to them, we all know that I like to do K-1 as well and that my popularity there is very big, so why should I sign something and leave other options out, it don’t make sense. If a promotion wants exclusivity then they should bring a lot of money with them because I’m very happy that I can perform in two combat sports and doing very well in both of them.”

Would you agree that as far as the public is concerned, that the UFC's champion Cain Velasquez holds the rightful number 1 ranked spot in your division... and agree or not with their opinion, how can you prove them wrong and take the number 1 spot without entering the UFC?

”I agree that Cain Velasquez holds the number one position; he had a very good year and beat the champion in very impressive fashion. Now Cain is sidelined for the rest of the year and having the Strikeforce GP tournament in 2011 there is enough room to take that number one spot. The winner of the GP should be number one in the rankings because I still believe Strikeforce has the best heavyweight division in the world.”

I guess an appropriate question to elaborate further on would be why don’t rankings matter to you?

”I like it for the fans because there will be big debates on the internet about it and people have their opinion and that’s good for the sport. It makes the sport alive; it would be boring if there is nothing to talk about. So I like the rankings in a special way. You have fans saying that I’m top 3 and haters that are saying I’m not even top 10. It’s fun and it motivates me but in generally I don’t mind and I still sleep well when Dana saying I’m not top 10. As long as they talk about you it’s a good thing right?”

Why do you fight, is it for fame, money, competition or all of the above?

”Now it’s all of the above; in the beginning of your career is about fame, trying to be good at your sport. Then comes competition and later the money. There was no money in the beginning but now being a professional raising a family, money is a factor to fight, can’t deny it. But I love to train and I love to fight so I’m blessed that I can make a living by doing something I like.”

Is there anyone you want to thank for your great 2010 and any messages you want me pass on to your fans?

”I like to thank my fans for supporting me, my family and friends and of course my team Golden Glory and all of my training partners. I like to thank my sponsors; Fight Game and Hayabusa. Check out my website on www.alistairovereem.com (http://www.alistairovereem.com/) and make sure to watch the online documentary, season two will start soon. Also look at my new web shop for some great shirts.”

Enjoy!

dirk5
28-01-2011, 15:41
eerste echte post maar toch een repost..... (zie strikeforce HW GP topic)

shame on you ;)

sterrenkijker
28-01-2011, 15:44
AO 4 President

TheCarnage
28-01-2011, 16:07
eerste echte post maar toch een repost..... (zie strikeforce HW GP topic)

shame on you ;)

Haha ik was er nog bang voor, ik zat te zoeken maar kon em er nergens tussen vinden. Denk ik een keer de scoop te hebben.........

dirk5
28-01-2011, 16:13
Haha ik was er nog bang voor, ik zat te zoeken maar kon em er nergens tussen vinden. Denk ik een keer de scoop te hebben.........

hehe, don't worry... het overkomt de besten...

Slome
28-01-2011, 17:38
hehe, don't worry... het overkomt de besten...
thnx!