Overeem doesn't see Alex Pereira as a champion

[Unheralded Truth]

Periera is just the ninth fighter in UFC history to win belts in two different weight classes and he achieved the rare feat much quicker than anyone else.
The 36-year-old needed just 11 MMA fights to reach the sport's pinnacle.

Overeem, who switched between kickboxing and MMA during his Hall of Fame career, is surprisingly not overly impressed by what Pereira has achieved in MMA since fully switching sports.

“He’s interesting,” Overeem told talkSPORT.com, “Do I see him as a champion? No."

“I think, at this moment, they have difficulty figuring him out, but the moment they figure him out they are going to destroy him, and that will be a tough time for him.”

Overeem believes Pereira’s lack of ground skills will soon be exposed.

“I think he’s excellent in the striking department, but his jiu-jitsu and his grappling is not there. He’s so good in the striking department other fighters are unable to take him down. The moment
they figure it out, striking-wise, it’ll be difficult for him.”

Source: https://talksport.com/sport/1656889/alistair-overeem-shocking-assessment-ufc-champion-alex-pereira/

 

[markantony20]

Who has the better Kickboxing career Alex or Alister?

 

[azerty]

i see him as the champion since his victories in title fights were legit against legit opponent ( seeing jiri vacated the title and never lost it in the first place) but there is no denying that he got an esay road and favorable match up to get there just because his rivality with adesanya was a selling point

 

[ocfightfan]

Well I guess they better get started figuring him out then.

 

[HolmeZy55]

Horse meat is just jealous, he has the belt so he is the champion, end of story.

 

[StonedLemur]

Who has the better Kickboxing career Alex or Alister?

That's a tough one sir.
Alex is double champ in Glory, but Reem won a K1 tournament.

 

[Cat Biscuits]

Well so far at LHW he's beaten 2 title holders that were previous champs in both Jiri and Jan. It's not like he's been crushing cans.

 

[ryun253]

Alex is a champ, Alistair maybe had a chance pre-USADA. Well shit, if Alistair is on his back he's already gassed.

 

[rjmbrd]

Poatan: Beats the current and former middleweight champion, and two light heavyweight champions

Overeem: I don't see him as a champion.


If Jan could have submitted or get a GNP stoppage on the mat, he would have. He had plenty of opportunity. Alex has solid counter grappling at this point, its plain to see. He's never going to be an offensive submission guy but why would he?

Overeem is always going to be a fun guy, but his career speaks for itself. He almost immediately got busted for PEDS upon joining the UFC, shrank, then resumed getting knocked out every third fight. Imagine getting knocked out by guys with the skill level of Travis and Bigfoot and having something to say about Alex.

 

[World eater]

Given his age, they don’t have much time left for the figuring out part.

 

[jko1355]

 

[Marko Polo]

Pereira is better than Overeem ever was. Reem used to mentally fold. Poatan doesn’t.

 

[dre quinn]

If jones planned on fighting at 205 in the future then I could see overeems logic yet at this point it seems jones is done with 205 so pereira is rightfully the champ at the moment in my book. I also see what Overeem means by saying nobody is able to figure out Pereira. Just like the Machida era we are now in the Pereira era.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Horse meat is just jealous, he has the belt so he is the champion, end of story.

You must not remember the time Ted Dibase "Bought" the belt from Andre The Giant?
Or in MMA terms Conor McGregor got a LW title shot after going 1-1 with Nate Diaz and having Zero FW title defenses.

 

[NoSmilez]

Who has the better Kickboxing career Alex or Alister?

Hard to compare. They competed at different times. Alistair fought at the highest level which is HW K1 and captured a GP belt in the premiere organization. You can argue that he had one of the easier brackets so he won.

Alex came after the fall of K1. He made his name in Glory. During Alistar's time those MWs and LHWs didn't really exist. Those divisions were not popular. They were small guys that couldn't compete at HW. They had to bulk up to do so. Alistar was one of those people. Most of the small guys were not successful in K1 in terms of capturing a title.

 

[Striker Fox]

If Jan could have submitted or get a GNP stoppage on the mat, he would have. He had plenty of opportunity. Alex has solid counter grappling at this point, its plain to see. He's never going to be an offensive submission guy but why would he?

Reem probably knows Jan was completely gassed in the 1st round because he was not properly acclimated for Salt lake like Alex was.

Jan should be able to use his wrestling more and have the energy to go for the finish to dominate him in a rematch.

 

[Mammothman]

Lol says the glass jaw horse eating steroids abuser that couldn't win a single UFC belt lol.

 

[Poatan Power]

Eh. His BJJ ain't that bad. He wore Jan like a backpack and Jan was never close to even threatening a submission. Granted BJJ defense is easier to learn/do than offense, it was impressive.

Nobody is perfect. Saying "once he's figured out" is like yeah okay. Knowing how to beat someone and actually doing it are two different things.

 

[Clark Rogers]

Imagine getting knocked out by guys with the skill level of Travis and Bigfoot and having something to say about Alex.

Imagine having none of that skill and having something to say about Overeem.

Travis and Bigfoot smoke you every day of the week, but you're doing exactly what Overeem did, just with far less credentialing to back it up.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

He beat number 4 at the time, I believe, Strickland. Then he TKO the reigning champion, Izzy.

He beat number 3 at the time, I believe, Jan (So much weird shit happened at LHW since Jiri won the belt. But I think Jan was 3). Then he TKO Jiri who didn’t lose his belt in the octagon.

Those wins are as legit as they get, imo.

He sounds a little salty. But he got KTFO by Stipe in a title fight. And Ngannou in a number 1 contender fight.

And he’s retired now. So why talk shit about Alex?

If Alex got to face Overeem for the HW title. Alex might actually knock glass chinned Overeem out. And become a 3 weight champion. But I don’t like Alex’s chances against the top guys at HW right now.