Overeem-Arlovski fight a family feud
Training teammates pitted against each other in the cage for Netherland’s first UFC event
For the majority of athletes that wrap their hands, put on fourounce gloves and ply their trade inside the UFC cage, the idea of sharing that space with one of their teammates is a non-starter.
Adding a championship belt into the equation might get them to soften their stance and find a way to make things work, but going toe-totoe with someone from their team in a “regular” fight just isn’t going to work.
Concerns over causing friction within the team and advancing their career at the expense of a colleague make it a sticking point, as does the fact that in many instances, there are various other potential opponents they could face rather than having to throw down for real with someone they throw down with on a daily basis in the gym.
That’s one of the reasons why the heavyweight fight between Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski that headlines the UFC’s inaugural show in Holland is so captivating, as the two veteran contenders both represent Jackson-Wink MMA.
“I never had a problem fighting teammates,” Overeem said when discussing the matchup with The Province earlier this week.
“I think if someone has a problem with it, it’s Andrei. To me, it is sport. You can call it business, but I call it sport because it’s training and competing. For me, I don’t have a problem at all with that.”
His view on the fight and the fervour it has stirred raises an interesting question, as teammates go headto-head in individual sporting competitions all the time, and at its core, mixed martial arts is an individual sport.
Both men are after the same thing — the UFC heavyweight title — and while they train under the same roof, they have routinely worked with different coaches and sparring partners since the Dutch heavyweight joined the team two years ago.
This time around, they took it one step further, figuring out when each could be in the gym, in addition to Overeem working “off-site” in advance of this Sunday’s contest.
“I figured what time he would work in the gym and worked around it or I worked at different locations,” said the 35-year-old Overeem, who carries a three-fight winning streak into this weekend’s heavyweight tilt.
“The vibe in my camp was great. I’ve been working with great coaches — coach Chad Smith, Roberto Alencar — and we flew in some great sparring partners and we got the job done.
“Now it’s almost fight day and I’m looking forward to this fight — getting it over with and getting back to the normal routine of things at Jackson’s.”
And there is where this situation gets tricky and why most fighters aim to avoid taking on a teammate at all costs.
Overeem credits the tremendous group of coaches and fighters at the Albuquerque, N.M., fight camp for playing a big role in his current run of success, and taking this bout against Arlovski has altered both men’s normal routine, in addition to putting those same coaches and teammates on the spot in some ways.
No one likes picking sides in a situation like this and looks forward to when things can get back to normal, as Overeem suggested, but will that even be possible if this one should end with one man knocking out the other in devastating fashion as often happens in heavyweight skirmishes?
Because that is exactly what Overeem expects out of Arlovski Sunday at the Ahoy Rotterdam.
“I see him as a very motivated opponent and wanting to punch my head off, and that poses a challenge,” laughed the surging contender.
“We’ll see if he’s laughing and if things can go back to normal after the fight.”
E. Spencer Kyte is the author of Keyboard Kimura (theprovince. com/mmablog), the MMA blog of The Province. Follow him on social media: @spencerkyte.