Andrei Arlovski: I know that Overeem injured Jon Jones simply because he injures everyone with whom he trains

It seems Alistair Overeem is simply unable to distance himself from controversy. The UFC heavyweight holds a reputation as an intense sparer during his…

By: Karim Zidan | 9 years ago
Andrei Arlovski: I know that Overeem injured Jon Jones simply because he injures everyone with whom he trains
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

It seems Alistair Overeem is simply unable to distance himself from controversy.

The UFC heavyweight holds a reputation as an intense sparer during his training camps, but that has recently developed into a reputation as a fighter with malicious intent to harm others during training.

The incidents began at the Blackzilians, where Gilbert Burns proclaimed that the “arrogant” Overeem left Blackzilians because he injured Guto Inocente in practice. Afterwards, Overeem relocated to Jackson’s MMA, where he appeared happy with the “positive vibes” in the gym.

Then things began to go sour again. The UFC 178 main event between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier was postponed after Jones injured his leg and was forced to undergo knee surgery. The following day, it was determined that Overeem had injured Jones during wrestling practice.

If that wasn’t enough, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski revealed that Overeem also injured him during a sparring session, which led him to the conclusion that the Dutch kickboxer simply injures everyone he comes in contact with during training.

“I do not like to wash dirty linen in public, but in these words there is a weighty truth,” Arlovski told Sports.ru. “A few days ago I was sparring with Alistair Overeem and experienced firsthand how it can end. As usual sparring goes: men represent strikes, touch each other, but do not tend to cause real damage to the partner. During one of the highlights of our sparring Overeem hit me with the hardest knee kick in the stomach. In a real fight would turn out for me by knockout.

“After that, I immediately went to the hospital to make sure that my ribs were not broken. Thank God, everything turned out OK, although at first we were afraid that my fight with Bigfoot would be cancelled. It was so unexpected and so unpleasant that at first I even wanted to take revenge on him, at least hit him with his elbow. But my boxing coach, Andrei Ivchuk, turned around and reassured me. “Do not be like the people who allow themselves to such dirty tricks – he said. – No need to stoop to their level. ” As you can see, a competent coach – this is very important.”

“Now I know that Overeem injured Jon Jones simply because he injures everyone with whom trains.”

Transcription taken from sports.ru.

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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