- Alistair Overeem has clarified his negative comments about pro wrestling in the past
- The MMA legend is set for his pro wrestling debut next month and a kickboxing match later this year
Former UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem generated quite a buzz recently as he is now set for his pro wrestling debut at Wrestling Entertainment Series against Adam “The Titan” Scherr. But the even more shocking part, Overeem had said that he believes pro wrestling is “fake,” “lame” and “stupid.” Now that he’s about to enter the squared circle, “The Demolition Man” cleared a few things up.
Overeem used to love pro wrestling
In a recent interview with MMA on Sirius XM, Overeem did not shy away from explaining the controversial comment he made about pro wrestling in the past.
As per the former Strikeforce champion, he used to be a huge wrestling fan back in the “late 80s” and “early 90s.” However, as the sport made changes over time, he eventually lost interest in it.
“I love late 80s, early 90s wrestling,” Overeem confessed. “I love that. And I still love that today. Now what happened after, and I’m not against any group, I’m not against women’s stuff cause there’s some cool women’s stuff as well but in general, it seems to me that the entire sport just became, it just changed. And to me not for the better.”
"The entire sport, it just changed. And to me… not for the better."@Alistairovereem clarifies his past comments on his feelings toward professional wrestling.
⬇️ Alistair's FULL interview w/ @jimmysmithmma available now!https://t.co/lU2oRL7KKz pic.twitter.com/iL0hj2rRaj
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) May 27, 2022
Brock had something to do with it
Overeem went on to explain how WWE superstar and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar also prompted him to take a few jabs at pro wrestling back then.
“Yeah. That was my opinion back then, [it’s] still is,” he continued. “Of course you talk a little bit of smack, that was also the time when Brock came into the UFC right? And he was also talking a little bit of smack so that was a little of back and forth.”
Not taking back anything
In the end, Overeem concluded that not one bit has changed on his stance about pro wrestling regardless of the intrigue of his past comment. For the 42-year-old, the golden days of pro wrestling ended after the early 90s and his fellow MMA fighters would also agree with him as well.
“Real fighters, I’m sure they all loved the late 80s to early 90s wrestling,” he pointed out. “And everything that came after was like ‘nah, not really my thing.’ And listen, I’m vocal. If you ask me my opinion, I’m gonna give you my opinion.”
Aside from his pro wrestling debut, Overeem is also reportedly making his long-awaited kickboxing return in October for a trilogy match with fellow legend Badr Hari.
