Alistair Overeem Out For Redemption Against Stefan Struve
Alistair Overeem started his UFC career with a big win, but has slowly become a punching bag in recent outings……
UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem once again fell on hard times this year, in the form of a crushing first round knockout against “Big” Ben Rothwell. The former Strikeforce and K-1 champion entered the bout as a heavy favorite, but ended up getting squashed after letting his guard down at UFC Fight Night 50.
The loss was Overeem’s third by KO in the UFC, and ninth overall. Travis Browne and Bigfoot Silva served “The Demolition Man” similar beatings in their respective 2013 bouts, so all eyes are on the kickboxing ace as he is booked to face Countryman Stefan Struve at UFC on FOX 13. Check out what “The Reem” told UFC.com about his recent slip-ups and upcoming fight:
“These results are not good, I totally agree. Would I like to have other results? Of course I would like to have other results – I’m a winner. I like winning. I enjoy winning and I put in the work to win. However, winning is not just a matter of work; it’s a combination of factors: it’s your sparring partners, your coaches, your diet – it’s the whole package, even your personal life. In that sense, it’s a continuous building of a puzzle and I think that the puzzle is very good right now.”
“I don’t have any problems fighting a fellow Dutchman at all, (Stefan Struve) is a nice guy, but we’ve never trained together. It’s work. It’s business.Of course, we’re going to have to be extra sharp, but I’m very motivated to be fighting my fellow Dutchman Stefan Struve and I can tell you that it is going to be fireworks.”
“I don’t have any problems fighting a fellow Dutchman at all,” Overeem said of the December 13 pairing with Struve. “He’s a nice guy, but we’ve never trained together. It’s work. It’s business.”
Stefan Struve returns in December after over 18 moths out; a heart condition has kept “The Skyscraper” out of action since early 2013, when he was blasted by the mighty left hook of Mark Hunt. You could argue that Struve is a great match-up for Overeem, but the same could equally be said visa-versa.
Both guys like to stand and bang, but who will emerge victorious in this battle of Dutch strikers?
