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There are things you want to hear after you win a professional sporting event, and there are things you don't want to hear after you win a professional sporting event. Nearing the top of the list of things you don't want to hear, is the president of the organization referring to your win as a "crap performance."
If UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem (37-13-0-1) was tuned into the UFC 169 post-fight show on Fox Sports 1, that's what he heard from UFC president Dana White. Those comments came shortly after Overeem ended a two-fight losing streak with a unanimous decision win over Frank Mir.
Overeem's decision victory was only the third time the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion went the distance in a winning effort, and only the sixth time he had gone the distance in his career.
After the fight, Overeem acknowledged that the game plan for UFC 169 was to play it safe. Speaking to Megan Olivi after the fight, Overeem said, "My guys didn't want me to gas myself, so I just took it easy. I had to play it safe coming off of two losses, losses that I was winning the fight until the last moment, and I wanted to play it safe."
The two losses mentioned by Overeem came at the hands of Antonio Silva and Travis Browne. Silva and Browne scored knockouts in those fights after being dominated in the early going by Overeem.
That safe game plan was exactly what inspired White to deride Overeem after the fight, "He fought safe. I think he could have finished Mir. He kept his job," White said. "It was a crappy performance by Alistair and then he calls out someone (Brock Lesnar) who doesn't even fight in the UFC. It was not a great night for Overeem."
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