“Nothing but respect for Alistair now. We all make mistakes and we all do stupid s–t. I say this all the time. It’s all in how you handle yourself after. He handled himself like a f—ing stud. He’s doing all the right things now. He’s fixing all the wrongs. We’ll see what happens.”
Overeem talked about his return and his meeting with Dana
“Junior Dos Santos is the champion for a reason. I’m just going to lay low. I’m going to fight whoever they put in front of me. But I’m going to get my hands on him, and when I do, he’s all mine. I’m continuing to train. I’m continuing to improve my game. But I feel good because I was always in fight preparation – always, from one guy to the next. Now I’m having some time for myself. I’m using this time wisely. I’m settled into Miami. I really love it there. I’m finishing my house. And if you’re in fight preparation all the time, you can’t really do that. You’re just training all the time, and you have to go to bed every night at 11 p.m., and you’re not really meeting new people, so for me, this time off is great. I’m clearing my mind, and I can assure you I’m going to be back stronger in December.”
“For me, it doesn’t matter. I have 69 fights under my belt. For me, it doesn’t matter who I fight. I don’t need to have a warm-up fight. I’m going to leave that up to the gentlemen of the UFC to decide. I’m sure they’re going to come up with something interesting. Fine by me. If they want me to go for the title, I’m going to be ready for that. If they don’t, I’m also going to be ready. He (Dos Santos) can talk all he wants. I know he’s very happy that fight didn’t happen, and I know he’s afraid to fight me. He also knows that I’m the biggest threat out there to him. He knows when he fights me, there’s no escape from it. He’s going to hit and run, or he’s going to go down. Either way, he’s going to leave that octagon a loser.”
On his recent meeting this past weekend with Dana White, Overeem added:
“Dana is an honest guy. He’s also a direct guy. We’re actually very alike. I’m also very direct. I think we’ll get along. We’re just taking our time. It was a good meeting. It was very calm. We voiced our opinions about what happened and just took it easy. It was positive. We were actually very much on the same page. He appreciated that I came in to speak to him directly, and I was satisfied after the meeting. It was very positive.”
Overeem talked about his return and his meeting with Dana
“Junior Dos Santos is the champion for a reason. I’m just going to lay low. I’m going to fight whoever they put in front of me. But I’m going to get my hands on him, and when I do, he’s all mine. I’m continuing to train. I’m continuing to improve my game. But I feel good because I was always in fight preparation – always, from one guy to the next. Now I’m having some time for myself. I’m using this time wisely. I’m settled into Miami. I really love it there. I’m finishing my house. And if you’re in fight preparation all the time, you can’t really do that. You’re just training all the time, and you have to go to bed every night at 11 p.m., and you’re not really meeting new people, so for me, this time off is great. I’m clearing my mind, and I can assure you I’m going to be back stronger in December.”
“For me, it doesn’t matter. I have 69 fights under my belt. For me, it doesn’t matter who I fight. I don’t need to have a warm-up fight. I’m going to leave that up to the gentlemen of the UFC to decide. I’m sure they’re going to come up with something interesting. Fine by me. If they want me to go for the title, I’m going to be ready for that. If they don’t, I’m also going to be ready. He (Dos Santos) can talk all he wants. I know he’s very happy that fight didn’t happen, and I know he’s afraid to fight me. He also knows that I’m the biggest threat out there to him. He knows when he fights me, there’s no escape from it. He’s going to hit and run, or he’s going to go down. Either way, he’s going to leave that octagon a loser.”
On his recent meeting this past weekend with Dana White, Overeem added:
“Dana is an honest guy. He’s also a direct guy. We’re actually very alike. I’m also very direct. I think we’ll get along. We’re just taking our time. It was a good meeting. It was very calm. We voiced our opinions about what happened and just took it easy. It was positive. We were actually very much on the same page. He appreciated that I came in to speak to him directly, and I was satisfied after the meeting. It was very positive.”