Werdum: ‘Overeem is one fighter with his juice, but he changes completely without the juice’

Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem, finds himself in what is likely a must win situation when he faces former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir at February’s UFC 169 event in New Jersey.

After defeating former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in his octagon debut, “The Reem” has suffered back to back losses in his most recent efforts.

At UFC 156 in February, Overeem took on Strikeforce import Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. After dominating “Bigfoot” throughout the first 2 rounds, Overeem got cocky and was eventually KO’d by Silva in the third.

In August, ‘The Reem” returned to the cage to take on Hawaiian native Travis “Hapa” Browne. Once again, Overeem would prove dominant in the early going, but eventually would be on the receiving end of a fight ending KO delivered by “Hapa”.

UFC heavyweight contender, Fabricio Werdum, who suffered a decision loss to Overeem in 2011, recently spoke to MMA FIGHTING where he discussed the upcoming ‘Mir vs. Overeem’ bout and didn’t hold with his criticisms of “The Reem”:

“He lacks a little bit in gas because of his steroids. He changes a lot if you take his juice off. Everybody saw what happened. Overeem is one fighter with his juice, but he changes completely without the juice. They took his powers. Let’s see how he does against Frank Mir, if he changed his strategy or training. Frank Mir is not doing well recently too, but I believe Overeem will defend the takedowns and knock him out. Overeem is a good fighter, but let’s how he does without his juice. I don’t like Overeem very much. Not because of the fact that we fought, but I think he’s too cocky. But he’s a good fighter, a strong guy, a good striker. I respect him for everything he has done in MMA and K-1.”

While harsh, it is easy for one to make a case for Werdum’s accusations. Since testing positive in 2012 for a 14-to-1 ‘T/E ratio’ (testosterone-to-epitestosterone,) at UFC 146 during a pre-fight drug screen, Overeem hasn’t looked like the same fighter. While there is no proof that he’s been “juicing” in the past, it’s pretty clear that “The Reem” has lost a bit of his edge.

What do you think Penn Nation?