Alistair Overeem has made a few headlines recently leading up to his fight on Friday at UFC Fight Night 50. This time, the heavyweight contender called out a former training partner.
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Overeem has had to shoulder the blame for Jon Jones' injury after the light heavyweight champion tore his meniscus and injured his ankle while defending a takedown from Overeem in training. "The Reem" was criticized by UFC president Dana White, current training partners and even past teammates.
After responding to White's comments on Monday Overeem has turned his attention to Anthony Johnson, his former teammate who said he injures training partners "accidently on purpose" and called him out for a potential future fight.
Alistair Overeem Defends Himself from Criticism After Injuring Jon Jones
Overeem and Johnson once trained together with the Blackzillians fight camp in Florida but after Overeem left the team earlier this year he's been called out by "Rumble" for being a poor training partner. Overeem has since joined Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque, NM and it's only now that he's responded to Johnson's comments.
"All this talking to the media? I don't get," Overeem told MMAJunkie. "Where I come from, if I have a problem, I'm coming directly to you and I'm asking you what's up. For me, that's like p***y behavior. Maybe I'm missing something and I'm just crazy. On the other hand, I do feel honored people are saying my name in the media. It must mean I have some sort of importance."
Johnson and Overeem might have to settle their differences in the octagon. But first, Overeem will face Ben Rothwell in the co-main event of Friday's televised FOX Sports 1 card. Johnson is in the midst of making a run towards the light heavyweight championship and has his own potential opponents to worry about. Johnson has competed at heavyweight in the past, so Overeem said he is open to the bout.
"I have different priorities right now," he said. "But I could definitely see that fight happening in the future."
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