Stipe Miocic respects Alistair Overeem.
But he definitely is not afraid of the former champion.
Miocic and Overeem square off next month at UFC 203 in the hometown of the UFC heavyweight champion, Cleveland, Ohio.
Following his convincing knockout of Fabricio Werdum, Miocic (15-2) believes his resume speaks for itself – even if Overeem does not.
“Yeah, you’ll see a better version of me. I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna smash and keep this belt for a long time. I mean, he can say whatever he wants, man, whatever he wants to build his confidence up. But I’ve been training non-stop, I’m great shape, I’m ready to fight. I wish this fight was this weekend. I’m ready to roll, man. You know, whatever. He wants to say he’s the hungrier fighter, but listen man, I’m a savage, bro. I’m ready to go,” he said during a recent appearance on Submission Radio. “Listen, he’s a tough guy, he’s fought the best in the world, he’s a K-1 guy, he’s good on the ground, he’s good all around. Yeah, he’s come back strong and I’ve fought a lot of guys that have had a resurgence and have been fighting better and I put a stop to it real quick. So listen, come UFC 203 September 10, I’m walking out with that belt still around my waist. So whatever he wants to do or whatever he wants to think, he ain’t gonna win. It’s gonna be me with my hand raised at the end of the night.”
“I think I’ve fought the who’s who of the heavyweight division. Overeem is just another guy they put in front of me and he’s for me to put down again. I’m gonna be champ for a long time and he’s just another guy front of me.”
Along with his recent win over Werdum, Miocic has also bested the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson around a 2014 decision loss to Junior dos Santos. Overeem (41-14) sports a four-fight win streak highlighted by victories over Arlovski, dos Santos and Nelson.
