Struve Slams Overeem, Not Impressed By His Record
Stefan Struve is once again slated to make his UFC return, this time against Alistair Overeem at UFC on FOX on December 13th.
Struve was supposed to return from a year long hiatus stemming from heart troubles back at UFC 175 on July 5th, however pre-fight anxiety got the best of him, and he almost feinted backstage during the event, prompting the UFC to cancel his bout last minute.
He spoke to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour last week to discuss his fight against Overeem.
“The only thing I wanted to here was: ‘You got an opponent,’. I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to put on a fight, step into that cage with the attitude you guys have seen me (have) in the past. I don’t care who it is, he’s going down December 13th.”
After his recent loss to Ben Rothwell earlier this month, many began calling Overeem the biggest bust in UFC history. With only 2 wins in 5 Octagon appearances, many wondered if Overeem would be cut.
“The level of the competition in the UFC is just really high,” Struve said. “I said that to my friends and to people who asked me before [Overeem] got into the UFC, (people) who said he’s going to absolutely dominate and he’s going to be champ for years, he’s going to annihilate everybody. I told them, you just wait and see how high the level of the competition in the UFC is. You really underestimate that. He was beating everybody outside of the UFC, but if you go through his record, and also in K-1, if you really take a look at when he won and who he won against, then, you know, I’m actually not that impressed.
“Who did he really win against in the period where people were saying he might be the number-one heavyweight in the world? Yeah, he beat Fabricio Werdum, but was that impressive? I didn’t think so. Yeah, he won the K-1 (title), but he won the first round against a mediocre fighter, then he beat Gokhan Saki, who had a broken arm, then he beat Peter Aerts, who was spitting blood after his fight with Semmy Schilt. If you take a really good look at it, it’s not all that impressive. He was winning in impressive fashion, but not against the best guys in the world, not in the UFC, where the best talent is and always has been.”
“If you look at the heavyweight rankings right now, every heavyweight in the top-10 is over 30, (every heavyweight) in the top-15 is over 30. I’m the only one well under 30, and I’m coming. I still plan to be champ in the coming years. I just need to run through a fellow Dutchman on December 13th.”
Thoughts?
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