Alistair Overeem Has Reinvented Himself – Is That Good Or Bad?
Former hulking heavyweight Overeem has changed his training routine and camps, moving from South Florida’s Blackzilians to train with the boys at Greg Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After allegedly leaving the Blackzilians for injuring a teammate sparring, Overeem has already fallen under intense fire for the same thing at Jackson’s.
He hurt light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ knee with a takedown attempt, forcing “Bones” out of his awaited grudge match with Daniel Cormier at September 27’s UFC 178 from Las Vegas.
Then Andrei Arlovski accused him of harming him with a knee in practice, but the two have supposedly since made up.
The drama for “The Reem” doesn’t stop there, however, as a developing war of words No. 5-ranked light heavyweight Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has also painted Overeem in a bad light. Johnson called Overeem the “biggest pussy in the heavyweight division” because he backed out of a fight with Junior dos Santos. Overeem responded by saying that Johnson must be jealous of him, also stating that he’d be willing to fight “Rumble.”
All that and “The Reem’s” fight with Rothwell hasn’t even been talked about. Overeem got a dominant but less-than-impressive win over Frank Mir at February’s UFC 169, and he’s looking to build a two-fight win streak against the heavy-handed Rothwell. Overeem is supposed to be down around 210 pounds for the fight, his lightest since his days as a light heavyweight in Pride.
This fight is going to tell us a lot about where Overeem is right now. If he wins impressively, the title run he was always supposed to have may be at hand for him, especially in a division starved for contenders like heavyweight.
If he loses, he’ll be labeled a massive disappointment in the Octagon, so the pressure is on Overeem in a big way this Friday.
