After getting his clock cleaned by "Big Ben" a few days back, "The Reem" is "in a good place," eying a return to the Octagon as soon as possible.
Despite getting knocked out by Ben Rothwell at UFC Fight Night 50 on Sept. 5, 2014, inside Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut (video replay), Alistair Overeem is in very good spirits these days.
It's not that he doesn't care about the loss to "Big Ben" -- his third in last four outings -- he's just in a very good place at the moment. And it's due in large part to his new mixed martial arts (MMA) camp, Jackson-Winkeljonhn MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Declaring on The MMA Hour that's he's "found himself" at the gym, "The Reem" says all of the positivity, skills and knowledge he's garnered during his short time with the famed camp will eventually be displayed inside the Octagon.
His words (via MMA Fighting):
"I'm good. The fight was not good. That was terrible, a terrible result. I can tell you it's such a shame, because I was in damn good shape. And that just proves to me it can alter in the heavyweights, one mistake, one blow. I'm disappointed in the result of the fight, but you know I was in a great place and I'm still in a great place. I think I really found myself at Greg Jackson's. I like the people, and the prep was great. And I know -- I just know -- that all those months of work that I put in are going to come out. It might not have come out in the fight, or the result wasn't there, but I know it's going to come out later. Because I know what I'm doing in the gym.... I just know that it's in the right direction. So again, very unfortunately result."
Not one to make excuses, Overeem gave full credit to Rothwell for landing the crushing blow after the former K-1 striker made a "mistake" of assuming "Big Ben" wouldn't crack him with the arm that may have been broken.
"We all knew that Ben has hard hands, that's how he wins fights. I kicked his arm, and I thought I disabled his arm. I heard a crack, I could see he was hurt, so I didn't expect him to punch with it, especially not that fast counter-punch. I was maybe expecting him to punch a little bit later, but not that fast, and I didn't expect it to come from that angle. I should have been more guarded, I should have been more careful. We all knew Ben could take a punch, well maybe take a couple of punches, he's a tough guy. He's got hard hands. And I just made a mistake."
Overeem is adamant he didn't underestimated Rothwell, a man he says "hits like a truck" and can absorb some punches to give his own.
Admitting that the possibility of getting cut by UFC crept into his mind, Overeem breathed a huge sigh of relief after UFC president, Dana White, reveled that he will be getting another fight inside the Octagon to prove his worth.
And if the striking Dutchmen has his way, he'd like to fight sooner rather than later.
"[I'd like to fight] as soon as possible, because I was not out. I was not sleeping. I was just dazed, and Ben capitalized. So I guess if it's up to me, not too far away."
Though Overeem refused to call out anyone, perhaps a rematch against Antonio Silva is in order, another heavy hitting heavyweight who's had his share of woes inside the Octagon.
Unless, of course, you have someone else in mind?
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