Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair ‘The Demolition Man’ Overeem (35-11, 1NC) has headed back to Holland to finish training camp for his upcoming UFC 141 bout with Brock Lesnar.
Overeem had announced that he was making Las Vegas his new home in order to take advantage of the training opportunities there, but an illness in the family has forced him back to his birthplace.
In his Blog for Yahoo! Sports, Overeem details his decision to move back home to take care of his mother who is “recovering from cancer and needs my support. She needs me in Holland over the next couple of weeks and I came back for her.”
The former K-1 King says the bout with Lesnar is still on and that the move back to be near his mother is the right decision, because he’d worry more if he stayed in Las Vegas rather than just being a short car ride away.
What I can say is that going back to Holland to be with my mother won’t be a distraction; it is actually stopping me from getting distracted. If I stayed in Las Vegas for this camp I would be constantly worried about her and my focus would have been compromised. Now I can train 100 percent, and know she’s just across town.
Overeem is still adamant that he will “rip apart (Lesnar) piece by piece” when the two meet on Dec. 30th in Las Vegas, and that he can match his opponents power.
I have no problem saying that I think I can match power with Brock Lesnar. In fact the UFC poster for our fight has Brock and me side by side with our measurements and I am the bigger man.
There are some fighters who I think are born great, guys like Georges St. Pierre and Jon Jones. I was born a very good fighter, but I have to work very hard to get to “great” and that’s why I have made so many sacrifices already to win the UFC title.
Be sure to check out the whole Blog as ‘The Demolition Man’ talks about why it was so easy for him to decide to move from light heavyweight to heavyweight.