Former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten has been long associated with Dutch mixed martial artists throughout his entire career. One of those fighters is Alistair Overeem.
“The Demolition Man” has been regarded as one of the best heavyweight fighters in the sport and he will finally get his chance when he challenges Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title later this year.
Having been familiar with Overeem’s career, Rutten gave his thoughts on the upcoming title bout while appearing on Sherdog Radio’s “It’s Time!” with Bruce Buffer.
Rutten spoke about how Overeem would fare against the Brazilian and said Dos Santos is a bad stylistic matchup for the Dutchman.
“I think that Junior dos Santos, with his combinations, his reach, I think he’s going to tag him and he’s going to throw combos and I think that yeah, he’s going to take this fight,” Rutten said.
Overeem earned his title shot against Dos Santos after defeating Brock Lesnar in his UFC debut at UFC 141 in December last year. The former Strikeforce heavyweight champion easily dispatched of Lesnar, utilizing his kickboxing and Muay Thai skills.
Rutten also pointed out the fact that despite Overeem’s dominance in the heavyweight division, he has been knocked out quite often in his career while competing against some the world’s elite strikers. Due to the Dutchman’s inability to take a punch, “El Guapo” also said he had told Overeem’s training camp to specifically avoid Dos Santos.
“I always told them … make sure to avoid Junior dos Santos,” he said. “I think Alistair, everything he does is one single shot because he knows he’s got that glass jaw as well. He’s been knocked out quite a few times in the past, even by Chuck Liddell as well. Every time when he punches, one hand is up. He throws single shots; he doesn’t throw combinations.”
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