Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum are no strangers when it comes to heavyweight competition. The two previously met in Strikeforce in the opening round of the heavyweight grand prix.

The fight was uneventful and saw Werdum asking to take the fight to the ground, trying to avoid striking with the K-1 World Grand Prix Champion. Werdum previously submitted Overeem in their first meeting at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute in 2006, so Overeem chose to wait it out on his feet to earn a unanimous decision victory the second time around.

“First of all, big kudos to Werdum. He’s made a great development as an MMA fighter. He’s always been tricky, he’s always been persistent with his black belt in jiu-jitsu skills. But, now he truly is a stand-up warrior and he is an all-around MMA master,” Overeem said while on the MMA Hour.

Overeem acknowledges Werdum has evolved, but he claimed to have evolved as well. Overeem wants a shot at the new UFC Heavyweight Champion, and wants to show how hungry he is for the opportunity.

“I have been following his progress throughout the years and I can say that I am very hungry to fight him. I definitely do see weaknesses with him. He’s a great athlete, he’s doing great at the moment, but he has weaknesses and I feel I am the guy that can expose those.”

Overeem is currently riding a two fight win- streak in the heavyweight division, but it’s against Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve who are nowhere near the top five right now. Would you like to see Overeem fight for the strap? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr. of MMAMania