nick diaz
15-02-2012, 09:12
2011 was a year of change for UFC heavyweight contenderAlistair Overeem (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122499/alistair-overeem). A contract dispute between Zuffa and Golden Glory led to the K-1 (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/promotion/k-1) champion's departure from his long time trainers and management team. To further murk the issue, Golden Glory filed to have Alistair's UFC 141 purse withheld for reimbursement of wages lost. With no team and no management, Overeem tested the waters in Las Vegas at Randy Couture's (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122508/randy-couture) gym Xtreme Couture; however, Overeem returned to Holland to help his ailing mother.With his victory over Brock Lesnar (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122494/brock-lesnar), Overeem earned a shot at the UFC heavyweight belt Memorial Day weekend and has decided to join Rashad Evans (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122510/rashad-evans) and Tyrone Spong (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/124815/tyrone-spong) at Imperial Athletics as a member of the Blackzilians. Glenn Robinson and Authentic Sports Management will handle Alistair's career from publicity and management to aiding in fight preparation and maximizing his earning potential through various revenue streams.For Alistair it was a simple choice. With ASM taking over all the responsibilities of handling business affairs, he will have the opportunity to focus on his training and evolving as a fighter. "With Authentic Sports Management, I saw right away that Glenn Robinson has a system in place that allows the fighter to focus on training only, which is so important as I prepare for my UFC heavyweight title fight against Junior Dos Santos," said Overeem.Alistair will find a familiar face in Boca Raton as he and Tyrone Spong faced each other in the quarter finals of the 2010 K-1 Grand Prix. With Spong attempting to make the leap to MMA sometime in 2012, having Overeem there as a teammate will ease his transition from kick boxer to MMA fighter as well as aid in preparation for his fight against Peter Aerts (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122833/peter-aerts) this summer.Alistair Overeem is set to face Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146 (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/95237/ufc-146) on May 26th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. You can follow him on twitter @AlistairOvereem (https://twitter.com/#!/alistairovereem) for training updates from Florida.