Alistair Overeem one of the best? Dana White doesn't necessarily think so

While Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem is often regarded as a consensus top-10 fighter by the fans and media alike, there’s still one man who is holding reservations about the Dutch fighter.

It seems like a common with UFC President Dana White.

Almost always, the mixed martial arts head honcho discredits high profile fighters who don’t compete under the Zuffa banner. Fedor Emelianenko for years was considered the best heavyweight fighter on the planet, up until his loss to Fabricio Werdum earlier this year.

And of course after he lost to Werdum, who went 2-2 inside the UFC, White was quick to discredit the Abu Dhabi veteran’s victory, and in turn equated the win to simply a victory over an aging fighter. Whatever the case may be when it comes to non-UFC fighters, most get top athletes don’t get the credit they deserve from Dana White, and Alistair is now among them.

Some might remember Overeem in talks with Dana White, specifically sighting the K-1 veteran at UFC 93 in January of last year. White was in the courting phase with Overeem then, who went 4-0-1 in his last five fights at the time (with one no-contest coming against Mirko Cro Cop in DREAM). Negotiations didn’t go too far, and Overeem would go undefeated in his next four fights, knocking out Brett Rogers in defense of his Strikeforce title in his most recent performance.

Coupled with his effective MMA skills, Alistair has since developed into one of the best K-1 strikers in turn. “The Demolition Man” made it into the final four in 2009′s K-1 World Grand Prix, eventually losing to finalist Badr Hari, a man who Alistair upset in December of 2008, knocking him out in the first round.

Now, Overeem is gearing up for his third K-1 World Grand Prix appearance, and is currently among the final 8 of the tournament, which culminates on December 11th in Tokyo, Japan.

Even with all of his accolades, Dana White is not impressed.

“I actually find it hilarious that he’s ranked in the top 10 by some of the websites”, said White while speaking with the media following UFC 122.

“I find it hilarious. What has he done in MMA to be ranked in the top 10? I’d like somebody here to answer that question. We’ve got a lot of media guys here; what has Alistair Overeem done to be ranked in the top 10 of mixed martial arts’ heavyweight division?”

“How do you figure because he’s such a good K-1 fighter (that) he can parlay that into being a mixed-martial-arts fighter?” continued the UFC President.

“That’s what makes the mixed-martial-arts media [expletive] stupid – that they would even rank this guy in the top 10 because he’s fighting in K-1. That makes absolutely no [expletive] sense, and I would love to hear somebody make sense of this guy being ranked in the top 10.

“Has he fought anybody worth mentioning? Uh, yeah that would help. Guys that fight the top guys in the top 10, three times a year in mixed martial arts – those are the guys that are ranked in the top 10. How bout the fact that he’s fighting in K-1, where you just kick and punch? There’s no wrestling, there’s no this, and there’s no that. How does any credible (expletive) MMA guy put him in the top 10 in the heavyweight division? It’s hilarious.”

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of Dana White’s turn around on Overeem? He seems to be playing it the same way the whole Fedor fiasco unfolded. Sound off in the comment section below.

Thanks to MMAJunkie.com for the transcribe.