Alistair Overeem Outlines Why he Wants to Scrap Derrick Lewis; Will he Get His Wish?

Recently Alistair Overeem has reported that he wants to battle Derrick Lewis, but will the “Reem” get his wish?

Overeem took on heavyweight prospect Sergey Pavlovich last weekend at UFC Beijing, and turned heads throughout MMA, by putting away the rising fighter in the opening round. Not only was it a big win for Overeem because of how decisive it was, but because it ended a two-fight losing skid for the decorated fighter.

Well, not long after the victory, Overeem called out Lewis via Twitter in memorable fashion. Since then, the Dutch star appeared on “The MMA Hour”, and while discussing who he wants to fight next, Overeem said this  (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I have to go with the hot balls, Derrick Lewis,” Overeem said . “We haven’t fought before and he’s ranked higher. He’s just ranked higher. I definitely have a score to settle with Francis (Ngannou) and I have no doubt that undoubtedly that’ll happen some time. But to me Derrick Lewis is more appealing because of those two reasons: I haven’t fought him before, that’s number one, and he’s higher ranked.”

“The Volkov fight was very interesting, because he was losing but he was not really in any danger of being knocked out or submitted,” Overeem said while referring to the comeback win Lewis scored over Volkov in October.  “He was just losing on points and then he pulled the trigger, I believe he came back with that amazing flurry. The other fight (Cormier), I don’t know — he’s a guy, if he hits you, you’re in trouble, but other than that, he doesn’t really have anything on you, right? Strong but no submission game and Cormier kind of exposed him a little bit. But yeah, that’s the only thing, don’t get hit by him. That’s his only thing, don’t get hit.”

There you have it, and yes, Lewis is certainly a dude who you don’t want to have hit you. Is Lewis as one-dimensional as Overeem says? In terms of his offense, maybe, but Lewis is also one of the toughest and most durable heavyweights in the game, who clearly doesn’t like quitting.

But that aside, could this fight happen? Don’t be at all surprised if it does.

Since Lewis is coming off a loss to the champ Daniel Cormier, the #2 ranked heavyweight is almost certainly looking at a bout with a lower ranked opponent. So, a fight with the #6 ranked Overeem makes a lot of sense. After all, that’s a fight that a lot of people would like to see and it could easily headline a Fight Night card.