Alistair Overeem’s UFC career has been a bit rocky, to say the least. He came in with a lot of hype behind him, with his first UFC bout against Brock Lesnar, which saw him demolish Lesnar in quick fashion. He was then first in line for a title shot, but then an issue with his post-fight drug test led to a suspension and him sitting on the shelf for a while. He finally got his next fight over a year later against Antonio Silva and was confident — extremely confident — in himself and his skills. This somehow led to Overeem keeping his hands down and should have served for a first look for Anderson Silva of how that can end up, as Overeem ended up on his back with Silva getting his title shot.
For Overeem the road back to title contention goes through Travis Browne at UFC Fight Night 1 on Fox Sports 1. Don’t think for one second that he’s stopped reaching for that championship, either.
“Yes absolutely (this is a fresh start),” Overeem said. “I believe that both Browne and myself are top ranked fighters and the winner of this fight will be one step closer in getting a title shot, so in that sense I know this fight can put me right on track as I still have one goal in life and that’s becoming the UFC heavyweight champion.
“I know there are more fighters going after that number one spot but with the nature of the sport anything can happen. So my main focus is my next fight and afterwards we will see who or when I will be fighting next.”