(History has proven that it’s tough to look good when your opponent wants a jiu-jitsu match, no matter how good you are.)
Alistair Overeem was on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani today and the Strikeforce heavyweight champion addressed the glut of MMA fans and analysts who disagree with him winning his heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal bout with Fabrico Werdum Saturday night. According to “The Demolition Man,” just because Werdum connected with more shots in the bout, doesn’t mean he won the fight, like many claim.
“I won the fight but I was not satisfied. I didn’t get a KO. I worked hard and when I look at the fight, I did dominate him. I stuck to the game plan but you have to give credit to Fabricio; he was prepared. He was not going to get suckered into my game, which is the stand-up and he got me out of my game. His takedowns were not successful, but I think he trained hard for this fight. He really wanted to win,” he explained. “I felt his power and he was there to win. I’m not impressed with his striking. He does not hit hard. He was using his strikes to set up his takedowns, but there was no damage. I was annoyed. When you look at a fight, who’s more dominant? You can see who’s more dominant.”
He points out that he controlled the cage and the bout and the only time Werdum “won” any of the exchanges, it was a smattering of light punches that promply stopped when he counter-punched and “Vai Cavalo” pulled guard, which basically slowed the pace of the fight any time he attempted to set up a combination.
“That is stalling the fight — or sort of withdrawing from the fight. That basically slowed down the fight and kept anything from happening. Of course I expected him to pull guard, but I didn’t expect him to do it like thirty times.”
In reality, it’s estimated that the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt butt-flopped at least 21 times in an attempte to pull Overeem into his guards, but “The Reem” wasn’t having any of it.