Alistair Overeem is nothing if not an MMA veteran.
After a lengthy kickboxing career, Overeem has fought in multiple MMA promotions including Pride, Dream, Strikeforce, and the UFC, over a span of 17 years. His opponent for UFC 218, Francis Ngannou, made his UFC debut 2 years ago, yet he is a 2-to-1 favorite many betting media. Curiously, Overeem told MMAFighting that he actually prefers the role of the underdog, even when it could be construed as disrespectful.
“He has a higher win rate, because I think I’ve won 75 or 80 percent, and he has one loss, so that gives him 90 percent or something like that, so based on that, whatever. But I like the fight, I like to be the underdog, it’s actually a little more comfortable position and it’s going to make my victory Saturday more wonderful, more glorious.”
“The Reem” has won six of his last seven fights, falling only to the champion Stipe Miocic. His last four victories are over titanic names, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt, and Junior Dos Santos.
Despite the difference in experience leve, Overeem believes that Ngannou is a worthy opponent.
“He definitely deserves this fight. The guy looks like a beast, he’s on a nine-fight winning streak, he’s doing great, he looks awesome. You can see what he’s done with the competition. He’s got that one-punch knockout power. He definitely deserves to be here and it’s going to be a very exciting fight.”
“There’s always pressure and I always don’t give a damn,” Overeem said. “I’m gonna just cruise, do my own thing, call it stubborn, call it whatever you want. That’s just who I am.”
Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou meet in the co-main event of UFC 218, which takes place at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich., on Saturday. The winner of this fight will likely be granted a shot at the heavyweight belt early next year. Division champion Stipe Miocic is closing up contract negotiations with the UFC. If he successfully defends the belt for a third time in his next fight he will break the all-time UFC Heavyweight record for consecutive title defenses.
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