UFC 160: Junior dos Santos says Overeem is a joke

On 11/03/2013, Junior dos Santos told Tatame.com that his opponent for UFC 160 Mark Hunt is a very though and strong guy, and that he needs to be very careful. On the other hand, he doesn't have a lot of nice words to say about Alistair Overeem, the man he was supposed to meet.

After Junior dos Santos lost the belt in december 2012, to Cain Velasquez, he does not want to wait any longer to try and retake the title. Junior dos Santos was scheduled to meet Alistair Overeem at UFC 160 on May 25, 2013. But the Brazilian came close to being scrapped from the card, as his opponent Alistair Overeem was injured. But Mark Hunt was more than ready to accept on short notice, to replace the Dutch fighter.

Mark Hunt currently is on a 4 fight win streak, for now the longest win streak in the UFC Heavyweight devision. Hunt comes off victories over fighters such as Stefan Struve, Cheick Kongo, Ben Rothwell and Chris Tuchscherer. Three out of four fight ended by TKO. Junior dos Santos is coming of a title loss against Cain Velasquez.

When asked about the change of the opponents, the former Heavyweight Champion says that no fighter chooses his opponent and he thanked Mark Hunt for stepping in.

"I do not pick opponents, so for me it doesn't matter who I'll face. I just need to know a date to prepare for the opponent. When Overeem dropped out, the UFC quickly found an excellent opponent, because I can not wait for the fight. Overeem is not champion, is nothing. If he was champion, I would have waited."

I admire Mark Hunt very much for having accepted the fight, since he just fought against Stefan Struve. I admire and appreciate it because I want to fight May 25, 2013 and that will happen thanks to him."

In Mark Hunt's last bout he win with a spectacular knockout of Stefan Struve, where he broke the jaw of his opponent and racked up four consecutive wins in the UFC. Junior dos Santos is aware of the danger that Mark Hunt presents and he said he will have a strategy that will work to win.

"Mark is a very tough guy, beating strong. I have to be very careful. He has been champion in K-1, faced the best in the world and won exchangers. I will work hard to strategy, I have learned a lot in my career. I guess now I know see things a little better and hopefully I can use it in this fight."

Junior dos Santos has a lot to praise about Mark Hunt but he is not so nice when he talks about Alistair Overeem.

"I think this guy is a joke. It is a big guy who takes apra fighting pump, and is talking a lot of nonsense. I have nothing to do with him, that he follow their career and do what it thinks best. I'll follow mine and if one day we are bumping and he does not have any problem, we fight."

At the same event, Cain Velasquez will fight against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva for the UFC Heavyweight belt, and "Cigano" has his thought on who will win the bout.

"Bigfoot is a very close friend, he will win, will be UFC champion. I'm sure it goes up from Velasquez, vai to nullify his game and knock. That's what I wanna see. It's a guy who deserves much, a good person and I think good people deserve good. He is one of the guys that I admire and I really like to have as a friend. Go for it, Big Foot."

Other News

• Mark Hunt voice unfair treatement
• UFC 158: Condit says that Hendricks is 'more dangerous version' of Dan Henderson
• Junior dos Santos vs Mark Hunt is on for UFC 160
• GSP: "Chris Weidman will beat Anderson Silva"
• Alistair Overeem injured, dos Santos does not want to wait.

UFC 160: Mark Hunt voiced unfair treatment

Photo by: MMA Junkie


You don't know unless you ask! The tight-lipped, reserved Mark Hunt shared his feelings with Dana White, who apparently listened, took swift action and booked him in the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career all during a GREAT long-distance phone conversation.

Remember that GREAT phone conversation between Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White and heavyweight contender Mark Hunt a few days ago, which took place a few hours before "Super Samoan" was booked to face Junior dos Santos at UFC 160 on May 25, 2013?

Well, apparently it had more to do about his "treatment" during fight week and less to do with opponents, salary and other major items that get most mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters bent.

Hunt, who is fresh of an impressive knockout (KO) performance against Stefan Struve at UFC on FUEL TV 8, says there were a few discrepancies he wanted bring to White's about the treatment he was receiving as an employee of the company.

He explained on his recent appearance on "The MMA Hour:"

"I had a few discrepancies about the way I was being treated and stuff. I just wasn't happy with some of the things that were getting done here. As an employee of a company, I shouldn't be treated the way I was being treated. I didn't think it was fair. Dana listened to what I had to say, which was pretty cool. I voiced my opinions about different things that I wasn't happy about, and now I'm happy. He said, ‘You know, I can't fix the problem if I don't what the problem is.' He's being pushed so many places because he's got a big company. But I said, you know, being the boss of the company should know what goes on. I was happy he listened and then he fixed the problem. It was good. He's a good person. He listened to what I had to say and sorted it out, so it was fine."

Though Hunt didn't give precise details, he did dish out a few tidbits as to the reason(s) he was unhappy during his return to Japan on March 2, 2013:

"Look, man. One room, four guys. Come on. Co-main event. You know, I can't get one more extra ticket? Come on now. It's like, you know, there's a 20,000 [seat] arena, and I can't get one more extra ticket. I've got four tickets. Is that not fair to you, or what?"

Being an accessible and accommodating boss, White listened to Hunt and apparently took care of any "fringe" issues as the former K-1 kick boxer revealed he is being treated better now than he was before. In response, Hunt expressed gratitude at the chance to let his voice be heard and for getting the "best opportunity" of his career:

"I've got the best opportunity so far of my career. I'm happy. I'm happy the discrepancies have been fixed. I'm in a better place. I never turned down any fight. I'm always up for the opportunity. For me, it's opportunities. It's not about all this other sort of jazz. For me it's about getting these opportunities, and very rarely do they come up. You've got to take them when they come."

As for the fight itself, even though Hunt says he has no qualms in going to the ground against "Cigano," he wants to test his striking against that of his Brazilian foe:

"He's like me. He likes to stand there and bang. You know, I'd like to test his mettle. He was the best fighter in the world, and I consider myself the best fighter in the world. I class my striking really highly and so does he."

With the "discrepancies," as well as Alistair Overeem, now out of the way, the two-heavy handed heavyweights are set to co-headline UFC 160 on Memorial Day weekend. And with the winner likely earning the opportunity to challenge the man who comes out on top later that same evening in the main event between division champion Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva, the pot is about as sweet as it gets.

Ask, and you shall receive. A novel concept that appears to work more often than not these days when it comes to White and Co.

Just ask Chael Sonnen, Anthony Pettis and now, Mark Hunt.

Source: MMA Mania

Other News

• UFC 158: Condit says that Hendricks is 'more dangerous version' of Dan Henderson
• Junior dos Santos vs Mark Hunt is on for UFC 160
• GSP: "Chris Weidman will beat Anderson Silva"
• Alistair Overeem injured, dos Santos does not want to wait.
• Jon Fitch surprised and not surprised by UFC release