When news broke that UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem was the culprit in UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ knee injury that caused him to withdraw from his highly anticipated title fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 178, much of the MMA community began lambasting Overeem.
Although Jones himself, as well as his coach Greg Jackson, said that the injury was nothing but a mistake, fans did not want to hear it as they had Overeem as a scapegoat.
If you recall, Overeem was involved in injuring another fellow UFC heavyweight, Guto Innocente during his time training with the Blackzilians down in South Florida. That injury caused Overeem to leave the Blackzilians as Anthony Johnson and Michael Johnson both spoke out against Overeem.
Recently, fellow Jackson’s MMA heavyweight Andrei Arlovski spoke out against Overeem, stating that Overeem “injures everyone he trains with.”
With seemingly everyone against Overeem, a few of his teammates, including Donald Cerrone and Diego Sanchez, decided to step up to his aid and attempt to clear Overeem’s name:
I dont understand why you’ll want to talk shit about @Alistairovereem Dude is a great teammate and friend! Hes doesn’t try and hurt anyone
— Cowboy Cerrone (@Cowboycerrone) August 21, 2014
@Cowboycerrone @Alistairovereem well put
— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) August 22, 2014
Coach Mike Winkeljohn also came to Overeem’s defense.
Cowboy always speaks truth RT @Cowboycerrone: I dont understand why you’ll want to talk shit about … http://t.co/dug45UNX92
— Mike Winkeljohn (@mmacoachwink) August 21, 2014
At the end of the day, Overeem seems to go really hard in training, and with that comes potential injuries. He is not the bad guy he is made out to be, but maybe he should go a bit lighter in training sessions. Then again, he is the professional fighter and I am the writer, so what do I know?
