Alistair Overeem says he ‘had to Google’ his UFC Beijing opponent

On Saturday night (early Saturday morning in North America), in the co-main event of UFC Beijing, former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will return to the Octagon. His opponent in this bout will be Sergey Pavlovich, a former Fight Nights Global heavyweight champion who is making his promotional debut.

If you’re not familiar with Sergey Pavlovich, you can’t really be faulted. Alistair Overeem admits he didn’t know who Pavlovich was either when the bout was first offered.

In fact, he had to Google his Russian foe.

“It’s his debut fight in the UFC and he’s an unknown, unfamiliar name to me, so I kind of had to Google and see what that was all about,” Alistair Overeem told UFC.com. “He’s undefeated, so his motivation is going to be there. He’s a young stud. But against those type of guys I always say, ‘Yes.’ The fans can look forward to a very action-packed fight.”

While Overeem considers Pavlovich very dangerous, he believes his experience will be enough to carry him to a victory.

“I’m one of the veterans now and I think my resume is kind of special,” Alistair Overeem said. “I’ve been fighting forever, it seems. 88 fights all together with the K-1 and PRIDE and the different organizations. It’s make it or break it for me. Either I annihilate or I get annihilated. Mostly I’m the one doing the annihilating. But we’re back to annihilate some more.”

However the bout unfolds, Alistair Overeem ensures it will not go all three rounds. There will be a finish, he says.

“I will finish this,” Overeem said. “It’s not going to go the distance. It’s going to be a finish.”

Who do you think will come out on top when Alistair Overeem battles Sergey Pavlovich in the UFC Beijing co-main event?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/22/2018.