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**Rauno** · 08-27-2012, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Former Strikeforce and K-1 Grand Prix champion Alistair Overeem is anxious to get back in the UFC Octagon again, the sooner the better.

Overeem is still serving out his nine-month de facto suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission stemming from a test given in April. That test indicated the Dutch fighter had an elevated ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone.

Now residing full time in Florida as part of the Blackzilian camp, Overeem has dedicated himself to training and preparing for his return to the cage once he can apply for a fight license.

It appeared briefly that Overeem might get to face UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos upon his return, but ultimately promotion officials opted to give the next shot to former titleholder Cain Velasquez at UFC 155 in December.

The news may have been somewhat discouraging for Overeem because he has been gunning for dos Santos since entering the UFC, but the bigger picture right now is just getting back to fighting, no matter who the opponent might be.

“First of all, he would have loved to have had the opportunity to fight for the title, but Alistair is a fighter, and as a fighter he will fight whoever they put in front of him,” Overeem’s manager Glenn Robinson of Authentic Sports Management told MMAWeekly Radio recently.

“Reality is, he’s training extraordinarily hard, and whoever gets in front of him is going to meet a completely different Alistair. This guy is just dedicated to rebuilding and rededicating himself.”

Despite being on hiatus until at least December, Overeem isn’t taking to time to enjoy a long vacation or even spend the extra months at home in Holland. No, he’s treating this extended period of time between fights as a long and hard training camp, aimed at making Overeem the best he’s ever been.

“He’s in great shape. He’s in better shape now than when he joined us. He’s strong; his cardio is crazy. He’s training with pro football players, a whole team of pro football players. We ran out of people large enough to fend him off, so we put him with a whole pro football team to do cardio,” Robinson revealed.

“All that’s going to happen is whoever does face him is in a lot of trouble.”

Overeem’s longterm goals are still to take the UFC heavyweight title and add it to his mantle of championships, but he knows he’s not going to face Junior dos Santos upon his return.

The Dutch wrecking machine has already been out too long and when the gates are opened for his return, Overeem wants to face the best heavyweight available, as soon as possible.

“He wants to come back as soon as he can. We have to wait until the Nevada State Athletic Commission can give him the license, and he’s doing everything he can to live by the letter of the law so that there’s no issue with getting that license when the time comes,” Robinson stated.

“He’s going to be ready to fight the second that there’s a fight. He’s not going to need a camp, because he’s never left camp. The day that he’s allowed to be licensed, if they want him to fight the next day, he’ll be ready.”

MMAWeekly

HW division is strange right now. Overeem fighting someone probably for the shot of the title, Cormier fighting Mir with the same intention. Meanwhile JDS rematches Cain and should he win? What's next..

Sports_Nerd · 08-27-2012, 08:53 AM

He's training with a whole team of pro-footballers*! And Shaq! And Shaq's 20 year old clone! And a trained Gorilla! And Zangief! And Mecha Godzilla!!!

GTFO, Overeem's PR department.

*The Dolphins, presumably. LOL.

**ClydebankBlitz** · 08-27-2012, 08:59 AM

PR Manager: Wow, did you see this stuff with Jon Jones? We could capitalize on this.
Overeem: Do I have to punch another reporter?
PR Manager: No, we will just say that you will fight anyone any time.
Overeem: Then will they forget about the steroids?
PR Manager: By god lets hope so.

Dtwizzy2k5 · 08-27-2012, 09:28 AM

I assume by footballers they mean soccer players. LOL @ Overeem wrestling with Lionel Messi! Cardio for DAYS!

**ClydebankBlitz** · 08-27-2012, 09:33 AM

If he's training with Christiano Ronaldo I want to see that training camp

TheAuger · 08-27-2012, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dtwizzy2k5

I assume by footballers they mean soccer players. LOL @ Overeem wrestling with Lionel Messi! Cardio for DAYS!

I assume he meant what he said when he said Pro Football players & not footballers. You know, the 6'5" 300 pound variety that play the most popular sport in the country where he trains.

cdtcpl · 08-27-2012, 09:54 AM

To me this almost sounds like "I need the money and can't play the waiting game". I'm not saying that it is true, but it does sound like the suspension has clearly hurt him financially.

**ClydebankBlitz** · 08-27-2012, 09:59 AM

Jokes aside, this is good. After what Overeem done, imo he lost his #1 contendership. He needs to earn it back. A win over a top name contender will do so. It might mean we'll be waiting a little bit for JDS/Overeem, but it'll be worth it.

**TheLyotoLegion** · 08-27-2012, 10:01 AM

Yeah I'm pretty sure he's playing with the American Football players, he's in Florida so I guess it's Miami or Tampa Bay, no offense but there's no way in hell a soccer player's gonna fend off Overeem, haha.

**Rauno** · 08-27-2012, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdtcpl

To me this almost sounds like "I need the money and can't play the waiting game". I'm not saying that it is true, but it does sound like the suspension has clearly hurt him financially.

Nope. He was hoping to get cleared so he could fight in the NYE card, exchanged some words with JDS in hopes of early promotion and a guaranteed title shot but the fight fell through and they gave that one to Cain. I'm sure his sick of waiting and wouldn't want to do the same after his suspensin ended. The guy has almost 50 pro fights and 17 K1 fights, he loves to stay active.

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