Overeem praises Werdum, but pokes: 'He doesn't want to mess with me'

Overeem (photo) comes from two consecutive victories. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

alistair overeem has an old rivalry with the current UFC heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum. The two have already faced each other twice, with one victory for each side, and there is no shortage of controversial statements and provocations made through the press.

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This happened once again this week, in an interview given by the Dutchman to the podcast “You're Welcome!”, presented by Chael Sonnen. Overeem initially praised Werdum, but later took a dig at his potential future opponent.

“I need to recognize that Werdum has made incredible progress since I defeated him [in 2011, still with Strikeforce]. Even before that, when he defeated Fedor Emelianenko, he was already on the right path. What a development! He is now good at striking and has good strategies. I'm really looking forward to fighting him again”, analyzed Overeem, who then added: “I know Werdum doesn't like me. He doesn't want to fight me. I'm the kind of guy who can beat you. I can beat any heavyweight, and of course that strikes fear into all of them. Werdum doesn’t want to mess with me”, he concluded.

Overeem has a fight scheduled against another Brazilian, junior gypsy, at UFC on FOX 17, on December 19th. Werdum is expected to defend his title at the beginning of 2016, against Cain Velazquez.

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