Alistair Overeem says Stipe Miocic has been slacking since winning the heavyweight title, while ‘The Reem’ is as focused as ever heading into UFC 203.
Alistair Overeem has never been more hungry to win UFC gold. ‘The Demolition Man’ is a former Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1 world champion and wants to etch his name into the MMA history books at UFC 203.
Overeem will challenge Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title in the main event, and the 36-year-old believes Miocic has been taking things too lightly since capturing the belt at UFC 198 earlier this year.
Speaking at a pre-fight media scrum to promote the event, Overeem says he has been taking note of Miocic’s partying ways on social media and believes it will be his downfall on Saturday night.
“You keep track of things, and it’s not a difficult thing to keep track of things. You see things on social media, pictures. For example, I went to UFC 200, great event, Vegas. I didn’t go to any pool parties. I was training every day,” Overeem said, per Chuck Mindenhall of MMA Fighting.
“Stipe was going to different parties. You could see that. You could see that on his clothes, he was wearing different clothes. He’s at different party events, he’s acting crazy, having a drink in his hand. He has been celebrating his victory. And you know what? Who can blame him? He became the champion in record time. But while he was celebrating, I was working. I was training hard. And my life has been dedicated for the last two-and-a-half years. The last six months I have definitely put on a couple of notches more. We’re ready, we’re going to get that belt.”
Miocic headed into UFC 198 against Werdum as the underdog, but walked away with the heavyweight title strapped around his waist after crumpling Werdum with a counter right hook in the first round. The 34-year-old became Cleveland’s first champion and sporting hero in over 50 years, when the Cleveland Brown’s won the NFL championship in 1964.
Overeem, who has reinvented himself over the last two years, is riding a four-fight win streak and has never looked better in the UFC. His latest win was a spectacular jumping front kick TKO against Andrei Arlovski at UFC Fight Night Rotterdam, and the multiple-promotion champ will look to fulfil his dream at UFC 203.
The pay-per-view, which also features a pivotal heavyweight clash between Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne in the co-main event, takes place Saturday, September 10 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.