Alistair Overeem: Fabricio Werdum Does Not Hit Hard

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Two days after winning a unanimous decision victory over Fabricio Werdum that left most MMA fans disappointed, Alistair Overeem shrugged off any criticism of his own fighting style in an appearance on The MMA Hour, saying it was Werdum's approach to the fight that prevented much action from happening.

"I won the fight but I was not satisfied," Overeem said. "I didn't get a KO. I worked hard, and when i look at the fight, I did dominate him. I stuck to the game plan but you have to give credit to Fabricio -- he was prepared. He was not going to get suckered into my game, which is the stand up, and he got me out of my game. His takedowns were not successful, but I think he trained hard for this fight, he really wanted to win. I felt his power and he was there to win."

However, while Overeem said he understood Werdum's strategy in the fight, he dismissed those observers who said that Werdum landing more strikes in the bout meant that Werdum actually deserved to win the decision. According to Overeem, the strikes Werdum landed were just a minor annoyance.

"I'm not impressed with his striking," Overeem said. "He does not hit hard. He was using his strikes to set up his takedowns, but there was no damage. I was annoyed. ... When you look at a fight, who's more dominant? You can see who's more dominant."

Werdum's basic game plan was to get the fight to the ground any way he could, whether that meant attempting a takedown, pulling guard or just flopping on his back. Overeem says he doesn't respect that.

"That is stalling the fight, or sort of withdrawing from the fight," Overeem said. "That basically slowed down the fight and kept anything from happening. ... Of course I expected him to pull guard, but I didn't expect him to do it like 30 times."

As for his future, Overeem said he thinks he'll be ready to fight Antonio Silva in a few months, and he plans to move from his home in the Netherlands to the United States as his MMA career progresses.

"This is where all the action is happening," Overeem said. "I like it here and I think I have to be here."

And further into Overeem's future, he hopes, is a clash with the UFC heavyweight champion. We don't yet know who that will be after the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix is concluded, but Overeem said he expects Cain Velasquez to beat Junior dos Santos, and he said he'd love it if he got a chance to fight the UFC champ eventually.

"If the fans want to see it," Overeem said, "they've got to make it happen."

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/06/20/alistair-overeem-fabricio-werdum-does-not-hit-hard/

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Featherweight Tournament Highlights Bellator?s Three-Part Summer Series

Bellator Fighting Championships will host a three-part event this summer on MTV2. Bellator’s Summer Series will feature a Featherweight Tournament showcasing many of the world’s top 145-pounders.  ?We experienced tremendous success with MTV2 in our last season, and can?t wait to get our Summer Series going, starting with Bellator 46 in Hollywood, Florida,? said Bellator [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/79399/featherweight-tournament-highlights-bellators-three-event-summer-series/

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Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson confirmed for UFC 135

The speculation is over. According to an announcement through the UFC?s website, newly crowned divisional king Jon Jones will defend his championship for the first time against former 205-pound title-holder Quinton ?Rampage? Jackson on September 22 at UFC 135 as had been rumored in the weeks following Jackson?s win over Matt Hamill at UFC 130. [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/06/15/jon-jones-vs-quinton-jackson-confirmed-for-ufc-135/

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Top 5 Reasons To Look Forward To "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 14

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Source: http://www.fighters.com/06/11/top-5-reasons-to-look-forward-to-the-ultimate-fighter-season-14

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Stanley Cup winners also big MMA fans

The night before UFC 131, Junior dos Santos attended the Stanley Cup Final game five, a thrilling and close game won by the Canucks. Though dos Santos was disappointed that no big fights broke out, he was impressed by the game.

Now, it turns out that the Boston Bruins, the winners of Lord Stanley's Cup, have pretty big MMA fans in their midst. Goaltender and Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas told Fight magazine that even on game nights, he'll stay up late to watch the fights so that he won't be left out when his teammates discuss them in the locker room.

He became a fan of MMA in its early days, recognizing the genius in Royce Gracie's jiu-jitsu.

"As a kid, I got into a fight with a wrestler. He was bigger than me, but he couldn't fight. He took me down, and I could not get up," Thomas says. "I gained an appreciation right there for wrestling, and to later see Gracie's BJJ?I got hooked on the ground game right away."

As a goalie, Thomas doesn't get in as many fights as his teammates, but he did admit that the many fights he's watched were in his mind when he got into a fight with Montreal goaltender Carey Price.

There are plenty of other hockey connections to MMA. UFC lightweight Sam Stout told Cagewriter that he is good friends with the Chicago Blackhawks' Dave Bolland. Featherweight contender and Bostonian Kenny Florian celebrated the Bruins win on his Twitter account, and UFC president Dana White encouraged, in his own, vulgar way, the Canucks fans to stop rioting.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Stanley-Cup-winners-also-big-MMA-fans?urn=mma-wp3575

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Josh Barnett Describes Win Over Brett Rogers as 'Perfect'

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DALLAS -- MMA Fighting spoke to Josh Barnett following his Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum win over Brett Rogers about advancing in the heavyweight grand prix, his performance, fighting Sergei Kharitonov next and his post-fight promo.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/06/19/josh-barnett-describes-win-over-brett-rogers-as-perfect/

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