Andrei Arlovski Promises To Smash Alistair Overeem

UFC heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem are on a collision course, set to face off on the May 8 UFC Fight Night 87 Rotterdam card. The two well travelled veterans train together at the famed Jackson-Winklejohn gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico together, showing that team mates aren’t always keen to avoid each other in the octagon. This isn’t to say that there hasn’t been some pre-fight banter between the two though.

They seem keen to whip up a bit of interest for the UFC’s first venture in to the Netherlands, and it all started with ‘The Reem’ in a recent interview with MMAFighting.com. The Dutch kickboxer, ho will enjoy a hometown advantage over ‘The Pitbull’ in Rotterdam, claimed they weren’t friends, contrary to popular belief. He also said they’d organised a training schedule to avoid confrontations in the gym.

Arlovski spoke to The Mirror this week to address some of the questions surrounding his upcoming bout with Overeem, and he got pretty fired up when the reporter asked about the two having different training schedules.

“F*** no, Overeem called Joe Silva and begged him over and over to fight me in his hometown,” said Arlovski. The UFC then called me, called my manager and told me that Overeem wanted to fight me on the Rotterdam card – I said ‘no problem’.”

“It is a little weird, but for me, it isn’t weird for because I don’t give a f***. He won’t have coach Winkeljohn or Greg Jackson as the coaches so it is no help to him so I am fine with that.””

Here’s an example of Alistair Overeem’s brutal striking abilities:

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Wow, so Greg Jackson and co. will actually be coaching Arlovski against Overeem on the night of their bout. Interesting, the former UFC heavyweight champ continues:

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“F*** no – absolutely not,” said Arlovski adamantly when asked if a training session system had been implemented.

“I’m training on my schedule. If I have to be there in the morning, I will be there in the morning. If I have to be there at night, I will be there at night. If I have to be there all f ****** day, I will be there all f ****** day.”

“Overeem is in my f ****** way and I will do everything possible to smash him and that’s it period.”

Overeem, a seasoned striker and former K-1 grand prix champion, has looked in great form lately. He last saw competition with a vigorous KO against Junior dos Santos. The Belarus born Arlovski had his win streak snapped by Stipe Miocic in his latest bout, making this upcoming fight of vital importance for either man to capitalize on.