Alistair Overeem returns from suspension on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas when he takes on Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 156.
Overeem was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission last year after an out of competition drug test and recently came off that suspension.
If he is able to get a win on Saturday night, he will likely be next for current UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
Overeem (36-11-1) is the former DREAM and Strikeforce heavyweight champion and believes he is better that his opponent. He plans to have the referee raise his hand at the end of the fight.
“I know I am a better fighter,” Overeem said in his UFC 156 pre-fight interview. “The fight will probably end in one or two round. I am going to raise my had after and he is just going to be a number on my list, a statistic.”
During his career, Overeem has won 15 of his fights by knockout and four of his last five wins have come this way. He plans to win once again by knockout and plans to finish the fight in the first round.
“I want to finish him in the first round. I have the power to knock Bigfoot out for a long-long time.”
Silva (17-4) has won a majority of his fights by knockout and he is coming off a knockout win in October over Travis Browne at UFC on FX 5. However, Overeem is expecting him to take the fight to the ground.
“I expect Bigfoot to try to take this fight to the ground. I believe that I have the advantage if the fight goes to the ground. I’m better in the stand up, better on the ground, I have more knockout wins, more submissions wins and I’m better in every aspect and I’m going to show that February 2nd in Vegas.”