Report: Alistair Overeem Open To Rematch With Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Or Derrick Lewis Clash
Somewhat fresh from a fifth-round bludgeoning of Augusto Sakai, decorated Dutch kickboxer, Alistair ‘The Demolition Man’ Overeem admits he would be happy to “destroy” one-time title challenger, Derrick ‘The Black Beast’ Lewis in his next Octagon outing – or rematch Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Overeem, 40, managed his second consecutive victory at UFC Fight Night Vegas 9 earlier tonight, surviving some worrying moments in the opening frames, to score multiple takedowns and eventually force the issue with a final-round knockout win after a series of slicing elbows from guard.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference with The Mac Life reporter, Oscar Willis – The Netherlands native spoke of his willingness to meet perennial contender, Derrick Lewis next, after his former opponent and current Elevation Fight Team teammate, Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes fights the former on November 28th. Lewis took to his official Twitter account during the headliner between Overeem and Sakai – scoring each and every round in favour of the Brazilian.
“Derrick Lewis is just talking crap (scoring),” Overeem said. “My teammate, Curtis (Blaydes) is gonna destroy him, and I’d be happy to kind of do that after, Curtis – Curtis first.“
When asked about the possibility of facing Jairzinho ‘Bigi Boy’ Rozenstruik once again following his UFC Fight Night D.C. buzzer-beating defeat late last year, Overeem explained how he believe’s he already bested the Suriname native, but remained firm that he has no qualms about a re-run.
“Well, (Jairzinho) Rozenstruik – I destroyed that man, I schooled him,” Overeem stated. “In my opinion, it was a very bad decision from the ref – waving it off with zero seconds left. I have no problem running that back. In my mind, I already beat him, you know? It’s only on paper that he kinda got it (the win), and he knows it too. But, no problem running that back.“
Following his controversial defeat to Rozenstruik last December, Overeem returned to winning ways against the returning Walt Harris in the main event of a UFC Fight Night Jacksonville event in May. With tonight’s victory over Sakai, the former Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1 Grand Prix gold holder is sure to improve on his #6 rank.
For fan-favourite, Lewis – the esteemed knockout artist added to his ever-improving tally in the main event of a UFC Fight Night Vegas showing at the beginning of August – scoring a second-round knockout over Aleksei Oleinik.
Returning to winning ways following a devastating knockout loss to the surging Francis Ngannou at UFC 249 also in May – Rozenstruik recovered with a knockout victory of his own over former heavyweight best, Junior ‘Cigano’ dos Santos.
