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Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou scored quick TKO finishes Saturday morning at UFC Beijing, and “The Reem” is not opposed to the idea of getting a rematch with “The Predator” next.
Overeem stopped previously unbeaten heavyweight newcomer Sergey Pavlovich with 39 seconds left in the opening round of their co-main event bout in China, while Ngannou was even faster in his rematch with Curtis Blaydes, getting the stoppage in just 44 seconds.
Asked by a reporter at the post-fight press conference about a potential rematch with Ngannou, who finished him in brutal fashion last December, Overeem says it would end differently.
”Tonight was a short night,” Overeem said. “I have a lot of respect for Francis Ngannou, but, yes, I’m very ready for a second fight with him.”
”I can promise you the second fight will be different from the first fight,” he added. “I made changes to my camp, I feel very energized, very motivated. The second fight will be different from the first fight, I guarantee that.”
Overeem, who trained with Blaydes ahead of UFC Beijing, says that changing the “spice” in switching camps increased his “appetite”.
”We changed the gym and, I don’t know, it was a really good chemistry with all the coaches and I just started to work and we put in a lot of hours,” Overeem said. “I like the chemistry and I like all the things that they were working on. I felt growth, and I think this is crucial for mixed martial artist, always get better.
”I think in my old, former setting, that was lacking a little bit, so I feel very fortunate that I was able to still make the jump to make the change and learn again and become better.”
Fighting in Asia for the first time since his 19-second win over Todd Duffee in December of 2010, Overeem (44-17, 1 no-contest) snapped a two-fight losing skid to improve to 9-6 under the UFC banner.
Overeem stopped previously unbeaten heavyweight newcomer Sergey Pavlovich with 39 seconds left in the opening round of their co-main event bout in China, while Ngannou was even faster in his rematch with Curtis Blaydes, getting the stoppage in just 44 seconds.
Asked by a reporter at the post-fight press conference about a potential rematch with Ngannou, who finished him in brutal fashion last December, Overeem says it would end differently.
”Tonight was a short night,” Overeem said. “I have a lot of respect for Francis Ngannou, but, yes, I’m very ready for a second fight with him.”
”I can promise you the second fight will be different from the first fight,” he added. “I made changes to my camp, I feel very energized, very motivated. The second fight will be different from the first fight, I guarantee that.”
Overeem, who trained with Blaydes ahead of UFC Beijing, says that changing the “spice” in switching camps increased his “appetite”.
”We changed the gym and, I don’t know, it was a really good chemistry with all the coaches and I just started to work and we put in a lot of hours,” Overeem said. “I like the chemistry and I like all the things that they were working on. I felt growth, and I think this is crucial for mixed martial artist, always get better.
”I think in my old, former setting, that was lacking a little bit, so I feel very fortunate that I was able to still make the jump to make the change and learn again and become better.”
Fighting in Asia for the first time since his 19-second win over Todd Duffee in December of 2010, Overeem (44-17, 1 no-contest) snapped a two-fight losing skid to improve to 9-6 under the UFC banner.
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