Dana: Overeem is NOT a Top 10 Heaveweight!

MrStuffins

UFC president Dana White likes Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

They often cross paths, and White respects him and calls him a "cool guy."

But the praise stops when White is asked if Overeem, who's won eight straight MMA fights, is a top-10 heavyweight. He isn't, said White, and that could explain why he's in no hurry to sign him.

Rankings are subjective. No consistent criteria is applied across the various media outlets' offerings. And aside from sparking heated debates among fans, they serve little purpose in the sport.

Still, it chaps White's ass to see Overeem ranked so high.

"Listen, I like Alistair Overeem," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) following UFC 122. "I see him all the time. Cool guy. But there's no urgency on my part to get him into the UFC.

"I actually find it hilarious that he's ranked in the top 10 by some of the websites. I find it hilarious. What has he done in MMA to be ranked in the top 10? I'd like somebody here to answer that question. We've got a lot of media guys here; what has Alistair Overeem done to be ranked in the top 10 of mixed martial arts' heavyweight division?"

Overeem (33-11 MMA, 2-0 SF), an 11-year MMA vet, is a former PRIDE fighter who's fought countless MMA legends. But early in his career, fights with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Chuck Liddell, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona and Fabricio Werdum all ended in losses. But he also owns a pair of wins over upcoming UFC middleweight title challenger Vitor Belfort, he won the Strikeforce belt from notable Paul Buentello, and he most recently made a successful title defense with a first-round TKO of Brett Rogers.

Still, White doesn't understand the high ranking. As he sees it, too much emphasis is placed on Overeem's K-1 kickboxing bouts, which have accounted for four wins in his five fights.

"How do you figure because he's such a good K-1 fighter (that) he can parlay that into being a mixed-martial-arts fighter?" an exasperated White asked. "That's what makes the mixed-martial-arts media [expletive] stupid – that they would even rank this guy in the top 10 because he's fighting in K-1. That makes absolutely no [expletive] sense, and I would love to hear somebody make sense of this guy being ranked in the top 10.

"Has he fought anybody worth mentioning? Uh, yeah that would help. Guys that fight the top guys in the top 10, three times a year in mixed martial arts – those are the guys that are ranked in the top 10. How bout the fact that he's fighting in K-1, where you just kick and punch? There's no wrestling, there's no this, and there's no that. How does any credible [expletive] MMA guy put him in the top 10 in the heavyweight division? It's hilarious."

In most polls, Overeem is ranked between the No. 5 and No. 10 spots. HDNet's "Inside MMA" host Bas Rutten even recently declared Overeem the No. 1 heavyweight fighter (though he admitted a small bias for his fellow Dutchman).

But White isn't buying it, and he sees parallels with former PRIDE champ and current Strikeforce heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, who long has ranked among the division's best.

"You know what this is? Another Fedor thing," he said. "UFC doesn't have him, so we're going to rank him in the top 10 even though the guy is only fighting in [expletive] K-1.

"[Expletive] great guy. I like Overeem. I have nothing but respect for him. But it's an absolute [expletive] joke that anybody would rank him in the top 10. And anybody that wants to debate with me, and tell me why Alistair should be ranked, [expletive] fire away. I'm ready. I want to hear it. Can't wait. If on your rankings you have him in the top 10, you should be [expletive] embarrassed."

(You can find him at www.twitter.com/DanaWhite if you're so inclined.)

White is even more perplexed because Overeem fights so infrequently in MMA. He'll fight just once in MMA in 2010, and currently, there's no exact timetable for his return in 2011.

"And you guys wonder why I have no [expletive] hair," White said.

Source

I've made these exact same points before. When there was a thread before about Top 3 in each division, there seemed to be a lot of love for Overeem in peoples' Top 3.

For me, there's no way. Don't get me wrong, the guy is a beast, a wrecking machine, and it's possible he could be a top guy in the UFC's HW division......... but he has never fought a Top 10 HW so how can he be considered one?

Your thoughts?

GTR63

I think he is there is Lesnar,Velasquez,Dos Santos,Fedor,Mir, Werdum & then you have the likes of Big Nog,Carwin,Big Country,Antonio Silva, Cro Cop,Rogers.I don't know if i'm leaving any out i'm sure I am but I think Overeem gets in the Top ten there.(Couture ain't there cause he doesn't know if he'll stay on).

dave1982

Who has he got to fight to put in the top 10?

UFC have 90% of the worlds best heavyweights,Strike force the rest yet M1 wont pit Fedor against Overeem.Who else is there Werdum he's injured and been out since his Fedor win.
Rodgers was his last "competitive" considering whats there for him to fight.pfttt talk about total destruction of Rodgers.

So its easy for Dana to say he's not top 10 if you can't fight the best you can't be the best

calex71

Some of this has to be down to Overeem himself / management. I can't blame him paydays in Japan are huge!!!!!! + the unpredictable K1 thing if he got knocked out in the 1st round he'd be free for MMA as it is he has at least 1 more fight in that and will likely feature at Dynamite.

What ever Dana says between K1 and MMA alone over the last 10 years he is one of if not the most active HW's in the world at that level with an average of 5 competitive fights a year.

I wonder if he even wants to go to ufc also? He would certainly have to give up K1 etc while under UFC contract. I feel he should be fighting the best and SF has little other than Fedor and Werdom for him. Seeing him lately he is looking his peak and now is the time to prove it.

Mellor

MrStuffins wrote: »

For me, there's no way. Don't get me wrong, the guy is a beast, a wrecking machine, and it's possible he could be a top guy in the UFC's HW division......... but he has never fought a Top 10 HW so how can he be considered one?

My thoughts exactly.

He is a great fighter, i just don't think he has proved it at HW.

dave1982 wrote: »

UFC have 90% of the worlds best heavyweights,Strike force the rest yet M1 wont pit Fedor against Overeem.Who else is there Werdum he's injured and been out since his Fedor win.

He already fought Fedor.
Werdum isn't injuried anymore

Professey Chin

Mellor wrote: »

He already fought Fedor.
Werdum isn't injuried anymore

Overeem fought Fedor now

Mellor

Haha, too many things at once, was meant to say already fought Werdum - Who isn't injuried anymore

Hail 2 Da Thief

Fu€k ranking systems!
I don't give a sh!t whether Overeem is ranked in the top 10 or even the top 100 for that matter. All I care about is getting the chance to watch him fight because he's an awesome fighter.
A huge amount of hype surrounds Overeem at the moment. Why? Because although it's fair to say that he hasn't fought top guys at heavyweight, people recognise the talent he has. imo he's got far more talent than most UFC heavyweights.
90% of the ufc paper view buyers are dudes who want to see big dudes trading blows. They don't understand or want to watch ground fighting which is why they boo at events.
Overeem is a world class striker who looks like a cartoon superhero. He would be a huge money maker for the ufc and dana knows it. He would love to bring him into the ufc.
By the way, someone above mentioned that ufc have 90% of the best heavyweights. Go look at the strikeforce roster my friend. It's ****ing packed & will offer some amazing match-ups.

If you think about it this way then he should be just above Big Nog. What has Nog done this year? Lost to Cain by TKO, Last year he beat Randy in a very good fight but that makes him 1-1 in the last 2 years. Overeem is on an 8 fight streak. They may not be the best quality contenders but at least he's stepping up and getting the results.
I think Dana should sign Overeem. Big Country is out for a while due to contract obligations, Shane Carwin is injured and is linked with steroid allegations, Big Nog is on the operating table, Mir is coming off an underwhelming performance, Brock seems to be fit but had some weaknesses exposed in the last fight. They're going to have to build the ****e out of the Cain-JDS bout to get near the buying figures that Brock would draw, a few new heavyweights wouldn't be a bad idea.