There’s a tape of Alistair Overeem speaking in Dutch. The English subtitles read ‘It’s like this. No matter how tough you are, knees on your head from me you cannot swallow‘. We think a lot got lost in translation, but we do know this…dude has hydrogen bombs for knees. Getting trapped in Overeem’s muay thai clinch must be what the universe felt shortly before the big bang created it. Alistair Overeem is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion and he’s eager to defend his belt. He’s also eager to silence the critics who accuse him of ducking out of fights. Dude got in a fight with five security guards inside of a Dutch bathroom, hey…it happens. It’s also important to note that that all five of those security guards were sent to the hospital. If George Bush were really looking for weapons of mass destruction, he could have just called Overeem and told him to take it easy. Check out our exclusive interview of Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Champion, Alistair Overeem, only at MiddleEasy.com – Because MMA is everything.
Growing up in Holland I heard you got in some trouble when you were a kid…I had some fights and had some problems with the justice department.
If we ever visited the Netherlands, which coffee shop do you suggest we go to?Don’t really know, I am not a coffee shop kind of guy…
Any chance of your brother signing with Strikeforce?Valentijn is ready. He is doing well and he won his last couple of fights. In his Sengoku debut he won by flying knee KO.
How’s the hand healing up? The hand is healed now and I just started to train again.
If we got in a fight in a Dutch bathroom, what pointers would you give us? Make sure you have money in your pocket and wash your hands after you went to the toilet…or after you had a fight in a toilet.
So the infamous bathroom brawl, how did it really go down? Some toilet woman stopped me for fifty cents, I told her I did not have small money but will bring one euro later. Then some bouncer got involved…being aggressive, my brother also involved. I walked to the exit and said I do not want any of this shit. When I stepped outside, my brother Valentijn was hit in the face with an object just before he could walk outside of that place. 5 bouncers jumped on him, I went in to help him…that’s pretty much what happened! [Editor’s note: All five of those bouncers were sent to the hospital that night.]
Can you explain the origin of ‘The Hammer‘? Its my management, they always come up with nicknames and images for their fighters.
Who would win in a fight between a 1993 Wesley Snipes and a 1986 Sylvester Stallone? A real fight? 50/ 50 I guess I never saw any of them fight in real life.
How do you train those hydrogen bombs attached to your legs that you call ‘knees’?I train a lot to be explosive, weight training, running, interval and sparring pad training…
If you could tell Roger’s one thing regarding his accusations, what would you say? My contract with Strikeforce was only made about three months before the incident, I think they let me fight against (Vitor)Belfort and Paul (Buentello) to lose, but I won. Normally in a contract it says you have to defend your title within a certain period. But my contract just ended there. As I had a long term contract with FEG, I kept fighting for Dream and K-1. It’s ironic that we finally got an offer from Strikeforce and reached an agreement, and I get in some stupid brawl and cut my hand. In jail it got infected and it took longer than expected.
What advice would you give Marloes Coenen in her upcoming fight with Cyborg? She knows what she is doing. They are calling her the female Rickson and she has good stand up training in Holland. That is going to be a kick ass fight.
Did that ‘Demolition Men’ documentary ever come out? No not yet, but we have a good idea on how to edit some juicy stuff to make it awesome.
How soon can we see you twittering and twatting with people? I am too busy with my training schedule, my manager Bas Boon is handling all those fans.
What tips can you give to our readers on how to get their hair to look like yours? I guess you got to be born with such ‘perfect’ hair?
What was the coolest thing about fighting in Pride FC? There was a great atmosphere and production. The fighters were treated like kings and we all got paid in cash. Those were the golden times!
If we created a petition to bring ‘soccer kicks’ back in MMA, would you sign it? Yes!
Do you think Cro-Cop acted his way into a disqualification against you? My personal opinion is that even if it was really painful at that moment, the Japanese people like spirit. It’s like Bonjasky in the finals against Badr, he could make himself a hero by getting up and kicking Badr’s ass. Same goes for Cro-Cop…funny they trained together. But they did not (go on with the fight), so we will never know!
Do you think Remy Bojansky will ever come to the MMA world? No, Never.
Reports state that you’ve been talking to Dana White about coming to UFC…My manager invited me and Semmy (Schilt) to go to the UFC in Ireland. He is negotiating with several organizations, I am happy with my schedule and my fight schedule. If I have to fight UFC, I will be there, no problem.
How’s that Dutch promotion ‘It’s Showtime‘? It looks sort of cool.Yes I even fought on one of their promotions. I guess the name sucks. For sure it would cause a headache for Showtime TV in the states if the show would air in America.
What’s your feelings on Scientology?Whatever people want to do and accomplish I admire. If it brings progress, I welcome it. If it causes war, I don’t like it.
Was your knockout of Badr Hari one of the most satisfying points in your career? It was really well planned by my management and I trained hard for the fight. Our strategy was perfect and it went like we studied and trained for. Yes. It becomes really nice if everything works and you can score a KO against a finalist from K-1 in the first round.
Badr Hari is sponsored by KIA, what car company do you want a sponsorship from? I am happy with any sponsor. Big or small cars…as long as it pays the bills.
If you had to assemble a team of X-men, what two MMA fighters would you pick? Semmy Schilt and John Olav Einemo.
Fedor Emelianenko or Brett Rogers. Which one do you want to fight against? I do not care, I will defend my title and I will be ready.
If they were the same weight, who would win a fight between GSP and Anderson Silva? George St. Pierre.
Your girlfriend is really hot. Does she have any twin-sisters she can hook us up with? Thanks for the compliment…no twin sisters, you got to keep looking.
F/Marry/Kill: Jessica Alba, Carmen Electra, Megan Fox.Marry Megan Fox, have an affair with Jessica Alba and then throw Carmen Electra from a cliff.
I had a layover in Amsterdam and they gave me a free hotel room with a free pizza. I guess they were out of steaks, normally you get dutch steak and a free massage too.
Any shout-outs? I want to give a shout-out to Golden Glory. Just train hard, keep out of trouble and world peace!
Dude wants to bring soccer kicks back to MMA and at the end of the interview, he wishes everyone world peace. Only on MiddleEasy. War Overeem! Can’t wait to see you defend your belt in Strikeforce.
