If heroes truly aren’t born and are instead made, then Dutchman Alistair Overeem is to cagefighting what Beowulf was to killing scaly monsters in a cave. Which is to say, it was just ten years ago that “The Reem” was a lanky light-heavyweight getting knocked out by Chuck Liddell in PRIDE. Now he’s a K-1, DREAM and Strikeforce champion and a hero in the world of mixed martial arts. He’s also a 265-pound hero coming off a suspension for elevated testosterone levels – a hero forged as much in the crucible of science as combat, whose physique is as real as pro wrestling or a 1980’s Arnold Schwarzenegger flick. And yet we can’t wait to see him challenge heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez for the UFC belt.
For that, we share in the culpability of his creation.
We demand of our heroes a certain capacity for violence. We also demand that they look the part. And in an age of regulation and feigned decency, we demand at least a modicum of respect for the half-measures put in place to curb the use of those very chemicals that could maximize violence and looks. So really, it’s at least little bit our fault – as fans, as consumers, as rule makers and enforcers – when they fail to effectively straddle that impossible line and tumble into the abyss of Winstrol and nandrolone.
Sure, none of us actually stuck those needles into Ken Shamrock, or provided Stephan Bonnar with those vials of Drostanolone. But we did put a premium on a very particular kind of success. When they looked like fighters, we gave them big fights; when they won, we rewarded them handsomely.
We made it worthwhile for them to cheat.
The running joke with PRIDE officials was that since not many people in Japan used performance enhancing drugs, why bother testing for them? That climate, and the desire for “freakshow” match-ups, led to the creation of many a hero, Overeem included. But where others stumbled, the Dutchman excelled – unlike the rest, he could fight for real. So much so that all that was required by way of explanation for his sudden transformation were the words “diet of horsemeat”, and aside from some chuckles, all was good. Prior to his Octagon debut, Overeem promised to rip Brock Lesnar apart, and he was true to his word.
But the Nevada State Athletic Commission dinged him when his drug screening came back positive, and now, after the better part of a year on the shelf, he’ll face Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156 on February 2. Beyond that looms a title shot, and the expectation that he and Velasquez throw down in epic fashion.
It’s a fascinating match-up on even just a visceral level, the images conjured painting a picture of two titans shaking the very foundation of the Octagon. And we want it. We want to see the biggest, baddest warriors around going toe-to-toe. Would Overeem be one half of that championship bout equation if he looked like a human who’d accepted his genetic predispositions? Would we want him fighting for the belt if he looked like his older, yet much smaller, brother Valentijn?
No. TUF winner Roy Nelson has yet to fail a drug test, yet few are clamoring to see the portly heavyweight square up against Velasquez. We want Overeem, because he’s huge and monstrous, and we made him into a hero.
Think about that the next time Overeem fails a drug test.
PHOTO CREDIT: UFC
Junior dos Santos-Alistair Overeem Slated for UFC 160
Loading ...
Overeem’s look is also the result of genetics and hard training, sure, but most certainly not just that. It is so self-evident that he has been on steroids: why even debate it? And not just him: one can look at many UFC fighters and just tell they are or have been doing it. Have you seen Belfort in his recent win over Bisping, for example? The question is, where to go. For it to be a serious sport, it needs to be doping free. For the UFC to find the “baddest man on the planet”, doping should be ok: I mean, suppose their heavyweight champ would get beaten up on a parking lot by someone, who is stronger ( because of juicing ), wouldn’t the whole UFC bravado be a bit of a joke? Still though: this is a very dangerous sport, and allowing both sides to allow some doping then and now will only lead to more injuries and a bad reputation. The whole sport could fold like cycling did. They better ramp up testing considerably, bravado and comic-book-hero looks be damned. Skill and training is what should decide a fight, nothing else.
The dude got in trouble one time for elevated testosterone. It’s the only time that he has not passed a test, and he had fought in the US previously (twice as a Stirkeforce Heavyweight). He is a big, muscular guy, but he is not as big as people make him out to be. His definition does much to give him the Steroid stigma. He was an absolutley emaciated LHW, dropping 25-30 lbs to make weight, and now weighs around 260. He was 256 against Brock, and that was with jeans and shoes on. His brother Valentijn is notorious for being kind of lazy in the gym, but is quite muscular himself, and fairly defined, so it’s not like Alistair is defying genetics. I don’t think that any fighter should ever fail a test, but Overeem caught more heat for it than anyone I can think of. He was catching more flak for cheating before he even got busted than most fighters do after being found guilty. Again, it’s not cool to dope. It’s also not cool that so many people are dismissing an athlete who has worked very hard to become an elite fighter, attributing all of his success to PEDs.
Check out Overeem holding a croc on his back http://www.tizop.com/mma/mma.html
iif i were to pick someone in the ufc, who could win a championship, and then lose it to seteroids…it would be reem
not to mention a liar
i heard he looks smaller now that he has ben off the sauce for the year
He is not smaller now haters will just say shit like that becuase they just dont like him. The truth is he is actually a little bigger now currently he is walking around at 275lbs so, he still has to cut to make the 265lbs limit.
He definitely didn’t look as ripped as he did vs Lesnar…. and you’re also kidding yourself if you think he looked as big- dude, just look at his traps
he definitely looked smaller- don’t get me wrong, he’s still a HUGE man… also to suggest that he was emaciated as a LHW is a joke, he’s no more emaciated than Jon Jones, problem is he was a small HW who hung around at LHW a tad too long- fighters were getting faster and stronger and yes, i will give you that he MAY have sacrificed strength/stamina to drop weight but that was his choice- he’s noted for training his ass off but you forget, DIET is a HUGE part of that also- eat right and your cut will be easy
and the added weight that he now cuts is just that, extra weight…. he hadn’t fought in a year so I doubt he was training full time like he would had he not been suspended… its only fair, take time off due to injury (or suspension) and you come back with some extra lbs but he’s an athlete so extra pounds on him won’t be the same as extra pounds on your average person – ie he’s not gonna have a huge gut
he’s also admitted in interviews that when he was younger, he didn’t train as hard as he does now- he got by more on talent…
alsom commented that something just “clicked” one day and he went hardcore with his training and stopped worrying about not adding bulk….
look it up, he did a couple interviews for build up to the lesnar fight- the cherry on top for me was when he blamed his new born baby daughter for causing him to lose sleep and not train as hard – in reference to the 3 fight losing streak at LHW right before he went up to HW- class act smh
test-tosto-REEM