(“You kick one little girl at a birthday party and nobody ever lets you live it down.”)
In an effort to constantly increase and improve our interactive offerings to the Potato Nation, we’ve come up with a new concept for a series of ongoing articles that will give our readers the opportunity to interact with some of MMA’s biggest stars.
We dubbed the series, “Breakfast With a Champion,” because we will be posting them early in the morning for you to read and because the concept is that you send us your questions for various titleholders and we forward them and post the replies here when we get them back.
The beauty of it is that you get to ask questions that typically don’t get asked by journalists and you get to contribute to the content you want to read in one of two ways: By posting questions for future guests and by suggesting which champs you want to take your questions.
We’ll do our best to get in touch with as many of them as we can and to answer as many of your questions as possible. All we ask is that you keep your questions respectful and that you spread the word about the series.
So without further adieu, here is the first instalment of Breakfast With a Champion, featuring Alistair Overeem.
Does it annoy you when retardo keyboard warriors make unfunny
horsemeat jokes a thousand times that only they laugh at? -Snakey
I don’t pay much attention to what people say on the internet to be
honest, but sometimes I hear something funny about the horsemeat jokes
and I think some fans are pretty creative. The horsemeat thing is
pretty much overblown because I don’t eat it that often. I eat more
beef, fish and chicken than horse but I have to say it’s a pretty
funny gimmick.
If were not a fighter, what would you be?? -nahin123
I don’t know but before I was fighting I wanted to join the army, like
a special forces unit or something like that, but my eyesight wasn’t
good at the time so I knew that something like that wasn’t going to
happen.
Alistair, after watching you fight for years and reading your
interviews and watching The Reem and all of the other online
interaction we’ve had, I feel like we’ve gotten a lot closer.
So my question is…… do you think we should meet? -Lutador Vomitando
I’m pretty much out of the spotlight but I try my best to attend as
many public appearances to meet my fans as I can. I’m very fortunate that I can
inspire them and meet them. They are the big part of my success. For
example, I wasn’t supposed to fight in the K-1 Grand Prix, but when the
fans voted me as a fighter that they wanted in the grandprix I decided
to do it. One year later I won the title. Maybe if you go to a
fight there is a possibility you can meet me in person.
Alistair…
Who’s your favorite fighter to watch? (I mean in combat sports –
Boxing, MMA, Kickboxing, whatever.) –ExpectJesusBro
There are some fighters I like to watch; back in the days it was Bas
Rutten and Vitor Belfort. In my Pride days I liked Shogun, although he was
my competitor. I also like Diego Sanchez for some reason, although
some think he’s a little over the top, but I like his intensity and
mental state. The new kid, Jon Jones, is also a fighter that I like to
see fight and for some reason, Brock Lesnar.
What’s it like knowing you can beat the sh*t out of any human
being? Also, please beat Frank Mir’s face in. -Fedor Penn
It’s pretty weird, actually because I know that it keeps me out of
trouble. When I was a young kid I got in a lot of fights in the
streets, so you would expect that if I know how to fight I would fight
more, but the opposite happened. If you know you can beat most of the
people up, you think it’s not worth it. You can get in trouble even if
it’s not your fault. The public opinion will say, “It’s not a fair
fight,” so I try to avoid problems on the street, otherwise they charge
me with assault with deadly weapons haha 
.
*Editor’s note: Yes, the world’s most dangerous heavyweight uses emoticons.
Would it be a moral victory if you could submit Werdum? -Trouser Snake
No, not really. Winning against Werdum alone is a moral victory. If I can
submit him, I will of course, but I always want to go for the KO, even if
Werdum is the best ground fighter in the world.
Alistair…What is your take on your fight with Cro Cop? What was up
with the knees? Was Cro Cop faking? I never heard your side of the
story. -Old_Bald_and_Irish
At the time of the fight I thought he was faking some of my knees to
the groin. You have to understand, I was in fight mode and I believe
the first one or one of those shots was a foul so I apologized for it during
the fight. But when you are winning a fight and you think that some of
the shots where not hitting the groin, you think he’s trying to get
out of the fight. It was unfortunate that the fight ended like that
because it was a very heated fight. I called him out because in Japan
there were not many big names out there and Crocop was a fighter who
had that name, so I used the press to get under his skin. I respect
Crocop a lot and he’s one of the legends in the sport and I wish him
good luck and hope to see at least one more fight of him.
What is one thing you’re very good at that isn’t related to fighting? (One skill you could pursue another career with.) -llbunbaoll
I don’t have anything else that I’m good at because all my time is
focused on fighting. But I know how to play videogames haha.
Is there any truth to the rumors that you are having issues with
your Strikeforce contract negotiations and that you may pull out of
the Grand Prix? -Mike Russell
No, that’s false. I think the tournament is one of the greatest things
that’s happing now in MMA and I’m proud to be part of it. I see
winning this tournament as my biggest goal at the moment.
@Alistair: What is the maximum number of teenage Japanese pop
singers that you think you could lift at one time? –Chromium
I don’t know. The girl group I lifted had six girls. I think I can
add two more girls.
Alistair, I know everyone is thinking this and it’s not online anywhere, what is your weightlifting routine and how often do you weight lift? -molson
It’s strange a lot of people ask me that question. To be honest, I don’t do maximum lifting. I do more repeating exercises. I use something like 220 pounds and do it multiple times instead of bench press only a couple of times. In my YouTube clip you see me deadlifting and that was 660 pounds.
Thanks for taking our questions, Alistair!! What are the biggest improvements you’ve made while evolving as a fighter over the years, and how did you achieve them? -dim mak
Keep training hard and making sure you surround yourself with a good team. When you fight at the top you need to make sure you can focus just on training and have the right team behind you — from your ground and standup trainer to your nutritionist. I think that experience also helps you to become a better fighter. Most importantly, learn from your mistakes.
What’s the best advice you’ve received that you wish a fighter had given you when you were first starting out in MMA? –KarmaAteMyCat
Before you go in to the ring or cage make sure you have proper training. Your coaches know if you have the talent to go into the ring or cage. Some training partners of mine are very good in training but for some reason they are not successful during a fight. So make sure you have the talent and discipline to become a fighter. It’s not a profession you should take lightly and there are way better opportunities in life to make money. I’m very fortunate that I can, but believe me, there are so many fighters and maybe one percent of them can make a decent living.
Would you be able to defeat Batman in a fight? Batman is allowed to use his utility belt. –Tats
The fight is over before he can reach his utility belt. The Reem will destroy Batman!! I have to say though that The Reem is no villain; he’s a hero just like Batman, so I think that fight will not happen.
Alistair, is there a desire for you to fight Badr Hari again in K-1 this year? –Venomous
We have to see what’s happing in Japan. It’s not certain if K-1 will have another Grand Prix this year and my priority is now with the Strikeforce Grand Prix, so I doubt it that the fight is going to happen, but a third fight between him and me would be the biggest fight in K-1 history.
Two part question: Do you think there is anyone in the world who can beat you, and if so who? Why did you kick that little girl? –blackboxmma
I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I think at the moment, I’m the best fighter in the world. You have to have that attitude if you go into a fight. Fighting is not like tennis or soccer there is a bigger “x-factor” involved. A fight can be over with one punch or a submission so the chance of losing is much bigger. You can lose a fight althoughyou are a better fighter. That’s what makes fighting so interesting. About that little girl segment, they cut it very bad that it looks like I kick her for no reason. It was her birthday and as a birthday gift she wanted to have a kickboxing lesson from me with her girlfriends. Soat the end she wanted a kick from me and after I gave her a gentle kick and she was saying, “Harder” and I was like, “Are you sure?”. So I kicked her again a little harder and she went to the ground and everybody was laughing, including her, so it was just fun and laughs.
Alistair, you seem poised and well spoken in all interviews (especially The Reem episodes), which would lead me to believe that you are an educated man. What level of schooling did you complete? –destinationblood
When I was young I didn’t like school that much and was a rebel. The teachers always told me that I have potential but at that time I thought that every teacher said the same thing to everybody. I knew that if I studied I could be an educated man, but for some reason the sport chose me. So when I finished my college degree I focused on fighting. Now that I’m older and wiser I would advise my children to stay in school and get a degree in something. Now I school myself by reading certain books for example; Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”
When you look at your career up to now what would you say the turning point was? I mean, at 205 you did well but seemed to not be at your best against the best competition (Shogun, Chuck, Lil Nog, Arona). Now at HW you’ve been dominant. -Kid Clam Curtains
When I was fighting at 205 there was a very big talent pool out there. I was pretty young compared to most of them and I looking back my frame was not built to be a 205 fighter. I had to cut too much weight and couldn’t do strength training and we tried to win fights purely based on technique and striking, which my old trainer, Lucien Carbinwas very good in. The turning point came when I started to switch things up in my training camp. I left Lucien Carbin and started training with Cor Hemmers. At his gym there were a lot of K-1 heavyweight fighters, so I sparred against big guys, and trust me, those sessions were just like fights. We made a plan to fight at heavyweight, so we started to gain weight and began fighting like a heavyweight.
If you could change one bad thing about the world into something good, what would it be? –frndlylion
Nuclear power. I have to explain that; the use of nuclear power is highly debatable because of the high risk. Just look at the disaster in Japan. You don’t hear much about it, but it’s the biggest disaster in human history. That can affect the world. They still didn’t find a way to stop the meltdown. So that’s a bad thing, but we are in need of new energy sources because the oil will dry out at one point. So if I can make a wish, then it would be that we find a way to make safe and clean nuclear power so we have ourselves a new energy source.
Which fighter that you’ve met was the biggest douchebag? -Turd Furgeson
Sorry, I’m not going to answer that. I’ve heard some fighters say they think that I’m the biggest douchebag and I don’t even know them personally, so judging people on a first impression is not the way to go if you ask me.
Is there any fighter out there you absolutely hate? Is it Badr Hari? –RwilsonR
No, I don’t hate any fighters, not even Badr. I didn’t like his attitude in the K-1 about the things he said about MMA and the things he did in the ring, but as a person I don’t know him. To be honest I see a new Badr emerging — a Badr Hari that has learned from his mistakes and realizes that his actions affect himself the most. Hating on people costs energy and that energy I need to focus on my fights.