(Hand shake deals ain’t what they used to be.)
Remember when UFC President Dana White said that former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez “deserved” the next shot at current kingpin Junior Dos Santos after Cain steamrolled Antonio Silva at UFC 146? Well, Velasquez certainly does and he seems upset over the buzz about Alistair Overeem leapfrogging him that has circulated recently.
When Alistair broke all of our hearts by failing a drug test and becoming ineligible to challenge Dos Santos (who won the belt by stopping Velasquez) and then was suspended from competition for a year, we figured he’d have to get back in line, at least a little bit, for a chance at UFC gold. But The Reem has been taking the Chael-lite approach to getting a title shot, ie. talking smack about the champion.
Overeem recently said that he feels Dos Santos is ducking him. Dos Santos didn’t take too kindly to that assertion, especially since it was Overeem that managed not to show up to fight when they were originally slated to face-off.
Junior’s anger at Alistair has gotten to the point where he’s expressed a preference to fighting the dangerous Dutch kick boxer next instead of Cain. Velasquez doesn’t have all that Brown Pride just to stand aside and let Overeem talk his way into a spot he earned so when the former champ visited The MMA Hour Monday, he let his feelings be known.
“For Junior, I have the most respect for him as well as a person and as a fighter. I think he represents the sport very well. But as a champion, if you have a number one contender, then you don’t normally get to choose who you fight,” Velasquez told host Ariel Helwani.
“I just think him and Overeem and him had some words spoken back and forth to each other and he wants to fight him. He really wants to fight him first, wants to beat him. But you gotta get through me first.”
Velasquez was hoping to fight Dos Santos in September but seems skeptical that that will happen now. He said he hopes to get clarity, one way or the other, on his position in the heavyweight division this coming week from White.
“I definitely want that fight with Junior,” Cain said.
“I’m going to do everything within my power to try to get that fight happening. We’ll just see how it plays out, I guess. We’ll just have to talk to Dana a little bit here and there and see where he stands.”
What fight would you rather see, nation? Reem vs. Junior or the rematch between the champ and Velasquez? We’ll be sure to pass the word along to Uncle Dana…