Apparently, Alistair Overeem is not a “complain guy.”
The former Strikeforce heavyweight champion currently sits at No. 3 on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 265-pound rankings. Overeem is coming off a first-round knockout loss to UFC heavyweight title holder Stipe Miocic. “The Reem” had earned the title shot by going on a four-fight winning streak.
Overeem is set to battle Mark Hunt at UFC 209 on March 4 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This won’t be the first time the two have went one-on-one. Back in July 2008, Overeem defeated Hunt by submission in the first round.
The media will keep a close eye on this fight, but it goes beyond the typical reasons. Besides having rankings implications, the fight will go down in the mist of “Super Samoan’s” lawsuit against the UFC, the promotion’s President Dana White, and Brock Lesnar.
Overeem recently appeared on Luke Thomas’ SiriusXM Rush 93 show. While “The Reem” was complimentary of his opponent, he also doesn’t agree with the approach Hunt has taken. He explained why on the show:
“Well first of all, a lot of respect to Mark Hunt. Throughout the years he’s also a veteran. He’s fought great champions, he’s a K-1 champion himself. Very tough opponent, very strong opponent. We (fought) each other back in 2008. A lot of respect to him. I can understand his frustration because in his last number of fights, two or three fights, there were some incidents with PED usage. So I can understand his frustration, however, I don’t know (about) his way, reaching out to the media and complaining all the time. Personally, I’m not a complain guy. Every time when I have a setback I fix it. I don’t complain to the media because nothing’s gonna change. People are just laughing at you and you become the negative Nancy.”