Earlier this week, MMAFighting.com posted an interview with Alistair Overeem in which Overeem stated that he believed UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos was scared of him.
Not surprisingly, when dos Santos was asked about those comments on Thursday’s UFC Tonight on FUEL TV, he laughed them off quickly.
“The school of Chael Sonnen has more students,” dos Santos said with a big smile. “This guy is going to start to talk a lot of (expletive) because he saw the UFC give Chael Sonnen a chance to fight Anderson again, but man, I’m not afraid of him. I’m not afraid of anybody here.”
Overeem was supposed to fight dos Santos at UFC 146 until the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to license him after his testosterone/
“I hit very hard,” Overeem said. “I’ve knocked out a lot of people. I’ve submitted a lot of people. I am, in any way you look at it, a legitimate threat to his title. And I’m on the run for it, and I’m going to get it. He knows that.
“Other than that, Cain is also doing very well right now but Cain doesn’t hit as hard as I do. Cain is smaller than I. Cain has less experience. So I would say I’m the biggest legitimate threat to his title. That’s why he’s afraid.”
UFC president Dana White said last month that he was hoping to book dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2 at UFC 152 in September, but dos Santos said in the same interview that he wasn’t healthy enough to fight then. He is planning on fighting again around November.
It doesn’t appear likely that Overeem will get an immediate title shot upon returning, but stranger things have happened before.
“If [Overeem] thinks he’s better than me,” dos Santos said, “come to fight with me. Soon he’ll feel the power of my hand and he’s going to change his mind.”