Derrick Lewis has claimed Alistair Overeem turned down a fight with him on three separate occasions before Aleksei Oleinik stepped up to face him. Lewis will square off against the Ukrainian-Russian submission specialist in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 32.
The ongoing feud between Lewis and Oveereem actually started with fellow heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes claiming the UFC matchmakers are trying to protect ‘The Black Beast’ from him and the subsequent loss that would follow.
Speaking at the UFC Vegas 6 virtual media day Lewis responded to the comments from Blaydes while simultaneously accusing Overeem of ducking him, he said.
“I don’t understand what he’s talking about. This will be my twentieth UFC fight and I have fought all of the tough guys in the Octagon and he’s now just coming up on the radar. I don’t even know how many fights he’s had in the UFC for him to talk like he could take me.
“I already fought just about everybody in the Top 10. The only guys I haven’t fought are Overeem and him. I’ve been asking to fight Curtis and Overeem. Overeem turned me down like three times in this past month before Oleinik popped up. And I asked for Blaydes, and if he don’t believe it he can ask Mick (Maynard).” (Transcribed by MMA Mania)
After hearing the comments from Lewis, Overeem took to social media to deny ducking an easy fight against the former UFC title challenger.
“Why would I turn you down? (Easy paycheck),” Overeem wrote.
Why would I turn you down ? (Easy paycheck
) https://t.co/SSqOl02n0z
— Alistair Overeem (@Alistairovereem) August 7, 2020
)
The Dutch knockout artist is coming off the back of a big win over Walt Harris at UFC Jacksonville. He has spoken about taking another run at the heavyweight title at the age of 40. Next up for ‘Reem’ is Augusto Saki on September 5. Perhaps after that, we will see him face off against Lewis in what is quickly becoming something of a grudge match.
Do you believe Derrick Lewis? Is Alistair Overeem ducking him?