Hi, Alistair… I see you’re back from… Wherever you were…
Recently, #3 ranked heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem had an interview with Fight Hub TV, in which he spoke about Fedor Emilianenko and the Ukrainian’s recent TKO loss to Matt Mitrione in Bellator MMA. As well as speaking on the fact that he doesn’t think that Fedor is the greatest fighter of all time (something that Fedor himself agrees with) because one, he didn’t Alistair when he was the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, but also because Emilianenko had never “tested himself” in the UFC.
“I’m a fan of his. I like him as a person, but I’m having talks with my staff and my crew and my coaches about when is a good time to hang up the gloves,” Overeem said. “When does your performance start to diminish your legacy and your career? All legit questions I think and I think it goes for him too. He should have those conversations.”
“When you’re looking good in your performances, then you don’t need to have that talk. But when you’re looking bad in your performances, then I think you should need to have that talk. When you’re racking up some consecutive losses then you should start having those talks with yourself, with your foundation, with the people around you.”
Overeem himself has said that his own legacy has been tarnished because of his sticking around the fight game…
“I know him but I don’t know him that well,” Overeem said. “I don’t know if the people around him are being honest with him. You don’t know if money is a factor, if money is a motivator, because of course Fedor is making good money when he fights. Maybe his money ran out. You don’t know. There’s multiple factors always going on but I hope that he doesn’t destroy his legacy more.”
“What can you say about it?” Overeem said. “I think Fedor had a great run in 2002-2005 and after that — people talk about 10 years undefeated and blah, blah, blah, but after 2005, who did he fight? He fought cans. He declined to fight me on two occasions, in 2009 and 2010.
“The other thing is that he never tested himself in the UFC. That’s something that bothers me. He should have done that. He should have went to the UFC and went to that mix. There’s always gonna be that little thing over his career.”
“He’s not the greatest heavyweight because he declined to fight me on two occasions while I was the Strikeforce heavyweight champion,” Overeem said. “You want to fight for the belt, right? I wanted to fight him, he’s a name. And secondly, because he didn’t go to the UFC.”
