Overeem prepares to battle Lesnar, nerves in UFC debut

The 6-foot-5-inch, 260-pounder has won just about every title a fighter can achieve outside of the UFC.

Still, he expects to contend with the notorious “UFC jitters” when he steps into the octagon for the first time on Friday night to take on former UFC champion Brock Lesnar in the main event of UFC 141 at the MGM Grand Garden.

“It’s going to feel different. It will be bigger. It will be more crazy, more hectic,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the fight, the show, the whole thing.”

Overeem was brought over from Strikeforce, where he was the heavyweight champion. He also won the heavyweight title in the Japanese promotion Dream last year, only to vacate the belt.

A winner of 10 of his last 11 MMA fights, with the other bout resulting in a no-contest, Overeem branched out into the world of kickboxing, where he was able to capture the K-1 World Grand Prix title in 2010.

The 31-year-old Dutchman said he feels there is just one goal left to accomplish in the sport.

“The UFC is the biggest promotion out there today and the biggest by far. They have the most stacked heavyweight division,” he said. “This UFC title is the thing that’s missing in my collection. Basically, I’ve cleaned up everything outside of the UFC.”

A win over the very popular Lesnar will put Overeem in position to fight Junior dos Santos for the belt. It would also be quite an introduction to casual fans in the U.S., who tend to focus far more on the UFC than the other MMA organizations.

Even Lesnar admitted he knew very little about Overeem when the fight was first announced. The former champion has been impressed by what he has seen on tape in preparing for Overeem.

“I really didn’t look at people outside the UFC. I’m not the kind of guy that sits around and ponders that kind of stuff,” Lesnar said. “Obviously this is a guy that’s threatening. You don’t get into this company and get into this division if you’re not a threat. This isn’t bingo hall fighting. It’s the real thing.”

Lesnar spent much of his time preparing for the standup game of Overeem, who might be the most dynamic striker in the heavyweight division, as evidenced by his K-1 success. Lesnar had UFC heavyweight Pat Barry, another K-1 alum, emulate Overeem for much of his camp.

Overeem, however, says there is more to his game and cautions those who believe this will strictly be a matchup of his striking against Lesnar’s wrestling.

“People tend to look at the last couple of years. Even then, I have some submissions. Like I say, I’m an all-around fighter. I do everything. I’ve got wrestling, I’ve got submissions, I’ve got striking,” he said. “My striking is something that I focused on because of the K-1, and my striking obviously got a lot better because of K-1 and the fact that I prefer knockouts over submissions any time. I think everybody does.”

He deflects all questions about his game plan and personal preparations for his fights, but did hint that he believes Lesnar will simply try for takedowns.

“It’s pretty straightforward what he’s going to do,” Overeem said.

Despite his own concerns about nerves coming into play when he finally steps into the UFC cage on Friday night, Overeem has little worry as to how he will perform. As is his custom, he is supremely confident he will be leaving with a victory.

“Of course UFC is a hundred times bigger than Strikeforce. UFC is huge, and there is a lot of attention on it. But the nice aspect about me is the bigger the fight, the bigger the media attention, the more people come to watch, the better that I am,” he said. “Is there a pressure fighting in UFC? Of course there is pressure, but that pressure is the same pressure that is on Brock.”

Overeem might have already made it through his biggest obstacle. He passed a performance-enhancing drug test two weeks ago and submitted a sample upon arriving in Las Vegas on Monday. Results of that test will not be available until after the fight, and he will take another test on fight night and two more at random times over the next six months. Speculation has swirled around Overeem since he bulked up from light heavyweight full-time four years ago.

The extra tests were required after Overeem was slow to respond to a Nevada Athletic Commission request for a test in November, which he says occurred because he was leaving his Las Vegas training camp to prepare at home in Holland, closer to his ailing mother.

But now the tests are behind him, and he was able to spend the holidays with his mom.

“There have been some distractions, but I’m ready to fight,” he said.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter @adamhilllvrj.