UFC 141: Alistair Overeem enjoying positive UFC experience, excited for Brock Lesnar bout on Friday

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

In only two more days, Alistair Overeem will make his UFC debut against Brock Lesnar at UFC 141. The former Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1 Champ has experienced the sport in just about every capacity outside of the UFC, and thus far he's liking what he's seen thus far.

"The vibe in the organization is very good, it's a positive organization," Overeem said in a video interview with MMAWeekly.com. "I didn't know what to expect because of course I've never fought in the UFC. We had some experience with Strikeforce - the last fight they did with the UFC team, with Burt [Watson]. That already was a huge improvement, now I'm experiencing the UFC first hand, and it's good. Being very well taken care of."

It's certainly a new experience for Overeem to receive a fight that he really did want, especially considering the struggles he had in getting one certain fight while in Strikeforce.

"I really wanted the Fedor fight to happen," Overeem said of the Strikeforce fight that didn't come to fruition. "I challenged them on two different occasions, before he fought [Fabricio] Werdum and immediately after. Unfortunately the fight didn't happen, and I basically let it go. He was the one I wanted to fight and other than that it was just the top fighters in the UFC [I wanted to fight]. And Werdum, I wanted to fight Werdum. That fight happened, so now we're good."

The same issue did not happen upon his move over to the UFC, as he says a fight with Lesnar is one he's had on his mind for some time.

"I'll tell you which fight I wanted [in the UFC]: Brock," Overeem said. "Me versus Brock was something that I heard a lot of fans speak about for a long time, but of course I was not with the UFC so the fight couldn't happen. Now I'm with the UFC and this is my first fight. Of course, after this one, when I win it, [I'll fight] for the title... [The UFC] came up with Brock [for this first bout], immediately I got enthusiastic, said yes."

Overeem has been very adamant in the weeks leading to this fight that he's going to finish it early on, but despite that supreme confidence he insists he has respect for Lesnar.

"I respect him as an opponent," Overeem said. "He has his record, he's a tremendous athlete, dangerous wrestler. He's just how he is. His character is different."

Penick's Analysis: Overeem's been spending his last few years on the outskirts of the sport. He's had success in Strikeforce, as well as Japan, but he's finding he's in an entirely different situation with a much better run organization in the UFC. If he's in line for the biggest fights in the UFC, they will happen, unlike the Fedor fight that never happened, and that's very much true with this first fight in the Octagon. If he can come in and defeat Lesnar, he'll make a huge entrance, and have a chance to become a massive star in the U.S. through the UFC.

[Alistair Overeem art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_11919.shtml

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