Downplaying his fighter’s No. 1-contender status for a shot at the heavyweight title, Alistair Overeem’s manager Glenn Robinson has told MMA Weekly that all the athlete is thinking about right now is getting back in the cage as soon as his suspension ends.
December will mark a full year since Overeem last fought for the UFC and will also complete the end of his six-month suspension for failing a pre-fight drug test back in April.
The Dutch fighter was at the time ready to take on Junior Dos Santos for the heavyweight title, after an impressive win over Brock Lesnar at UFC 141.
However, his failed drug test threatened to jeopardise his entire career.
He was subsequently denied a licence to fight in the state of Nevada and has been on the sidelines ever since.
But, remarkably, Overeem has managed to turn around his fortunes both with Dana White and his aspirations for a title shot.
And there’s good reason. Overeem is a highly accomplished fighter. Before being cut, he was the last holder of the Strikeforce heavyweight title, the Dream heavyweight title as well as being the 2010 K1 Grand Prix winner.
He’s also managed to stir up a serious rivalry with Dos Santos which has done much to hype a fight between the two.
However, Robinson isn’t getting ahead of himself. He said all Overeem is thinking about is ending his suspension and fighting, whether that means a title fight or not.
“Right now, he’s not even licensed, so the UFC’s hands are tied. The UFC can’t book him a fight until he gets licensed. So right now it’s all talk,” said Overeem’s manager Glenn Robinson.
“Based upon when he gets licensed and it also depends on if the winner of Dos Santos and Cain fight comes out unscathed. What if the winner comes out and has an injury and doesn’t want to fight for eight months? So there’s a lot of ‘what ifs,’ so right now we’re just focusing on getting licensed, and once we get licensed then we’ll figure out who we’re going to fight,” Robinson stated.
As far as Robinson is concerned, Overeem’s goal is to get licensed and then book a fight as soon as possible. If that’s a title fight, so be it, but Overeem just wants to get back to fighting.
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