Alistair Overeem defends UFC 169 performance against Dana White and other critics

On the main card of UFC 169, heavyweight Alistair Overeem picked up his second win inside the Octagon with a one-sided unanimous decision over Frank Mir. "The Reem" had a great start as he rocked Mir early in the first round. He pursued the finish with ground and pound, but let off the gas and took the final two rounds in unexciting fashion.

Following the event, Overeem's lackluster win was criticized, most notably by UFC president Dana White who called it "a crappy performance." On Monday's episode of The MMA Hour, Overeem addressed White's statement:

"In my mind I was actually just focused on not walking into the trap that happened with Travis, where you just punch yourself out and then suddenly you end up in a leglock or an armbar, because that's what Mir is known about,' Overeem said. "He's got this dangerous submission game, he can take a beating, and he's also known for faking a little but, wobbling once you start getting into it, you're in a submission. That was my main focus."

"Dana is a very upfront character, I like that about him, because I like to know where I'm at," Overeem said. "And he's entitled to his opinion, as we all are. I think it was a very technical performance, it is what it is. I can't make more of it now. I can understand him, he's the promoter, he wants to have exciting fights. Ratings matter, fans matter, fans want exciting fight. I hope he also understands my opinion, the ‘loser leaves town match.' Since the Travis fight, [I heard] a lot of things about my cardio. In life sometimes you always don't get what you want."

Overeem certainly has a point that he was in a desperate need of a win heading into UFC 169 and there were many questioning whether or not he'd be released with a loss. He took that situation to heart and made sure he got the win, so I can't fault him too much for that.

The question now is what's next for the former Strikeforce champ? The UFC has failed on two previous attempts to match him up against Junior dos Santos and I think they'll look to go that route again. A rematch with Mark Hunt has also been proposed. Either fight would be good for him next.