Alistair Overeem responds to Mark Hunt’s cheating allegations: He’s a talker I beat twice while not at my best

After Alistair Overeem knocked out Mark Hunt at UFC 209 earlier this year, “Super Samoan” blasted “The Reem” after realizing Overeem had received an IV to help him get over his food poisoning the day before the fight.

IVs are banned due to this.

Naturally, Hunt — who has been on a crusade agaisnt all “cheaters” — didn’t hide his displeasure at the exception made for “The Reem,” saying that his foe wasn’t really sick, and was instead simply looking for an extra advantage for the bout.

And while Overeem doesn’t take it too personal, he was a bit disappointed in the comments, but says at the end of the day, Hunt is nothing but a talker who he defeated on two separate occasions, all while not being at his best.

“Mark is also one of those veteran fighters and I respect him a lot. But, in the end he is just a talker,” said Alistair during a recent interview on The MMA Hour. “I fought him twice, I beat him as a light heavyweight, I broke his arm and I knocked him out as a heavyweight. Both fights I wasn’t fit, as a light heavyweight, I was 106 kilos fighting him who was 145 kilos, that is 235 and he was 280 pounds. I broke his arm on five days notice. I got the call on a Monday and Wednesday I was on a plane and Saturday we fought.”

Overeem is referring to his fight against Hunt back in 2008 under the now-defunct DREAM organization where he won via first-round submission. Fast forward nine years later and “The Reem” scored an even more impressive win via knockout over one of the hardest hitters in the game under the UFC banner.

“Now, I had a good camp but I had food poisoning the day before and I knocked him out. I don’t know what he wants from me. I think I have shown to the world that I am the better fighter and all the other stuff, words don’t hurt. He just talks becasue he has no evidence to back it up. I thought of him a little bit higher previously and I am a fan of his fight style, still am. But, mental wise, I think he is a little bit out there,” added Alistair.

With Hunt in his rear-view mirror, Overeem will look to score his second straight win against another familiar opponent, as he is set to take on Fabricio Werdum for the third time at this weekend’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

With the score even at one, Alistair says once he gets another victory over “Vai Cavalo,” he’ll look to secure another shot at winning the Heavyweight strap. And though Fabricio has improved his level of striking since their last encounter in 2011, Overeem says Werdum will go back to his roots as soon as he feels his power.

“I expect a Werdum that’s going to be very ready wherever the fight may be. I do believe that once Werdum starts to get hit hard, he will revert to his roots, his origins in the jiu-jitsu game. I’m not expecting anything, but ready for everything,” he concluded.

A win for either man could inch them closer to another fight agaisnt current champion Stipe Miocic, though there is another former champion who could decided to come out of the shadows to cut the line.