The Interrogation is a regular feature where The MMA Manifesto interrogates some of the world’s best MMA fighters. Next up is Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, DREAM Heavyweight Champion and K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Alistair Overeem, who discusses the upcoming Stirkeforce Heavyweight tournament, a potential fight with Fedor Emelianenko as well as Dana White’s criticism of him.
MMA Manifesto: Are you excited about Strikeforce’s Heavyweight tournament, or would you prefer to just defend your title in normal, non-tournament style matches?
Alistair Overeem: I’m very excited for the tournament. I like the format and it’s a great move by Strikeforce. In the end all the matches are single fights but it’s good to see that all the heavyweight fighters are going to fight this year.
MM: Fighting in a tournament, is it hard to not look ahead to potential future opponents in the bracket or are you able to focus on only your upcoming fight?
AO: My focus is always the fight I’m going to fight. In a K-1 format tournament you have to look ahead on future opponents because they are fought on the same night but this tournament you can take one fight at a time. So it’s not much different than a non-tournament fight.
MM: Your thoughts on your first opponent, Fabricio Werdum? What type of fight are you expecting? What areas of concern does he pose for you?
AO: Werdum is a solid top five fighter with some great wins and his last fight against Fedor showed he’s very dangerous on the ground. He’s the best ground fighter in the world so it will be a classic striker versus grappler.
MM: If you do get by Werdum, you could possibly finally face Fedor Emelianenko in the semifinals. Is it a goal of yours to fight him, or are you tired of chasing after him all these years?
AO: I challenged him many times and it never worked out because of his management. Now the tournament is set his management can’t hide anymore and demand things and re-negotiate (even after a loss). It’s a fight the fans want to see so I’m ready.
MM: Do you struggle or suffer from any MMA ring rust when you switch to K-1, then back to MMA matches again?
AO: No not at all, I fought Todd Duffee two weeks after my K-1 Grand Prix and you can see it went pretty well.
MM: Do you have any interest in fighting in the UFC one day? Do derogatory comments from Dana White (such as you’re not a top 10 heavyweight) affect your views on fighting for them one day?
AO: Apparently Dana White has some different views about things and it’s all business. Dana is Dana and Alistair is Alistair. As you can see I have many options and being belt holder in three different organizations I don’t have any problem to find fights and I can fight five times if I want, so I’m happy where I’m now.
Previous MMA Manifesto interviews: Roy Nelson, Bobby Lashley, Marius Zaromskis, Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal, Alistair Overeem, Jake Shields (Volume 1), Urijah Faber, Jake Shields (Volume 2).
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