It’s hard to believe the heavyweight champion of the world would be afraid of any challenge inside the cage but, according to Alistair Overeem, that’s exactly the case when it comes to Junior dos Santos’ desire to face him in a fight. Dos Santos recently changed his stance on fighting Overeem after the Dutch challenger called him out publicly, spurring “Cigano” to supposedly tell UFC President Dana White he preferred to fight Overeem rather than Cain Velasquez as originally planned.
However, Overeem isn’t buying Dos Santos’ statements to White as he made clear on this week’s episode of UFC Tonight.
Dos Santos Explains Reasons for Wanting to Fight Overeem
“I think he’s talking a lot because he’s expecting that fight not to happen anyways,” explained Overeem. “I think he’s afraid of me. I think he was happy that the last fight on May 26 didn’t happen. I met him at the UFC Fighter Summit in Vegas when Anderson Silva fought Chael Sonnen and I approached him. And I said, ‘Okay, let’s do it. Let’s both prove something to the world and let’s fight.’ He suddenly acted as if he didn’t understand English and didn’t know what I was talking about and blah blah blah and afterwards I hear about how he wants to fight Cain first. Well I’m still here. I wanna fight you.”
Dos Santos and Overeem were supposed to fight at UFC 146 but the bout was cancelled due to a failed drug screening where testosterone use was indicated. With Overeem working to resolve the matter through voluntary testing it seems he feels there is no reason the two of them shouldn’t tangle before the end of the year.
“The fact of the matter is, I’m the number-one heavyweight in the world and if he wants to be the number-one he’s gonna have to go through me. He’s gonna have to fight me,” Overeem concluded.
Overeem is currently unable to receive a license to fight in Nevada until late December. However, the UFC has an event planned for New Year’s Eve weekend allowing the slim possibility of Overeem’s presence on the lineup.
The complete interview with Overeem can be found below:
PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE
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