The hits keep on coming for Alistair Overeem.
Not long after former Blackzilian teammate Anthony Johnson accused "The Reem" of purposely hurting Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones during training, Andrei Arlovski has come out and pretty much confirmed "Rumble's" claims.
Speaking to SportsRu (via Bloody Elbow), Arlovski says that he too was a victim of Overeem's aggressive training habits, revealing that he was forced to take a trip to the hospital recently after Alistair nailed him with a hard knee to the midsection that nearly broke some ribs.
His words:
"I do not like to wash dirty linen in public, but in these words there is a weighty truth. A few days ago I was sparring with Alistair Overeem and experienced firsthand how it can end. As usual sparring goes: men represent strikes, touch each other, but do not tend to cause real damage to the partner. During one of the highlights of our sparring, Overeem hit me with the hardest knee kick in the stomach. In a real fight would turn out for me by knockout. After that, I immediately went to the hospital to make sure that my ribs were not broken. Thank God, everything turned out okay, although at first we were afraid that my fight with 'Bigfoot' would be cancelled. It was so unexpected and so unpleasant that at first I even wanted to take revenge on him, at least hit him with his elbow. But my boxing coach, Andrei Ivchuk, turned around and reassured me. 'Do not be like the people who allow themselves to such dirty tricks. No need to stoop to their level.' Now I know that Overeem injured Jon Jones simply because he injures everyone with whom trains."
This latest revelation isn't going to help the hulking heavyweight shed the stigma of not being a good training partner.
After leaving Blackzilians, Overeem was accused of being an "arrogant" person that purposely hurt sparring partners. Looking for a fresh start at Jackson-Winkeljohn Mixed Martial Arts, Overeem has found himself, once again, smack dab in the middle of more controversy among his new teammates.
Greg Jackson, head trainer for the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based camp said that he injury to Jones was a legit accident. But now that past and present teammates are divulging similar details about Alistair's bad training habits, expect more than a few eyebrows to be raised.
Maybe Jones, who was forced out of his title fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 178 this September because of the unfortunate incident, can came forward and give his side of the story to either put the accusations to rest once and for all, or confirm Arlovski and Johnson's claims.