It was big news, the fact that Alistair Overeem left his longtime management Golden Glory. To many this came as a big surprise, As Overeem and Golden Glory were doing business together for over a decade. Even more peculiar is the timing; right after signing a multi-million dollar deal with the UFC! Mixfight.nl spoke with Golden Glory trainer and thus former trainer of Alistair, Cor Hemmers.

17 september 2011. On the forum of Mixfight.nl, a source close to Alistair posts that Alistair has decided to leave Golden Glory management. The reason of this is not clear at that time but as time goes by things seem to become more and more clear. Cor Hemmers has a clear explanation “The management made a great deal for Alistair with the UFC. Alistair was very happy with this deal himself. During the negotiations the management spoke with Alistair about the changes being made to all of the agreements, and during the final stages of the negotiations both the management and UFC sent Alistair all of the documents for his comments and approval. Alistair went on his way to ZUFFA headquarters in Las Vegas where he would sign the contract himself. And that’s where Alistair decided to change course…”

“I feel it’s a setup” says Cor, “because Alistair wasn’t satisfied with the percentages for the trainers and the management . In fact, he tried to lower the percentages for the trainers when it became clear that his income would increase in the near future. Alistair wanted to discuss a new compensation system more in the form of a fixed fee and not based on percentages. Although we have no say in this – it’s a deal between the management and Alistair – he talked about this with Martijn de Jong and me after a training session. I am disappointed in the way he acts now and the financial proposal that he made to Martijn which was way below the regular percentage for trainers. I have always felt it’s a team effort to get these boys including Alistair to the highest level of the sport.

“I know Golden Glory’s US lawyer has sent Alistair an official breach letter, which resulted in him suing Golden Glory. It’s sad things have to go this way, but I am confident the court will rule in favor of Golden Glory; a contract is a contract, it’s that simple if you ask me.” And with this statement we finish our interview. Like in all trials there are two sides of the story. Which party is right will be made clear by the court. So far it is clear that the long-term and successful relationship between Alistair Overeem and Golden Glory will likely come to an end.

Mixfight.nl