Team Jackson-Winkeljohn could soon count a new heavyweight among its ranks. Alistair Overeem is considering staging his next camp at the acclaimed Albuquerque based gym, according to a report from Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight.
Overeem, who underwent surgery to correct a pinched nerve in his elbow Wednesday, recently parted ways with his former team, Florida’s Blackzilians, and management, Glenn Robinson’s Authentic Sports Management, ultimately signing with VFD Marketing, which counts Jackson-Winkeljohn products Jon Jones, Travis Browne and Carlos Condit among its clients.
According to Helwani’s report, Overeem considered joining Jackson’s prior to signing on with the Blackzilians in 2012, however the timing of the situation never worked out.
After suffering devastating knockout losses in two straight fights, Overeem left the Blackzilians to train in Thailand for his UFC 169 bout against Frank Mir, which Overeem dominated, avoiding the dreaded three-fight losing streak and potentially saving his job.
Jackson-Winkeljohn head coach Greg Jackson confirmed that his team and Overeem will likely test the waters to see if the relationship gels, while Jackson-Winkeljohn’s top heavyweight, Browne, offered his full backing to the experiment and stated that he was looking forward to working with the Dutchman.
Browne is currently slated to fight one of Overeem’s past opponents, Fabricio Werdum at UFC on FOX 11, for the opportunity to challenge for Cain Velasquez’s UFC heavyweight title.
Overeem (37-13, 1 NC) is unbooked as of this writing, although he is expected to fully heal from surgery within three weeks.