Overeem moves training back to Holland to be near sick mother

http://www.mmamania.com/2011/12/3/2607221/ufc-141-alistair-overeem-moves-training-back-to-holland-to-care-for

Quote :

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.

And while Alistair Overeem was preoccupied with trying to figure out the most efficient way to tear Brock Lesnar apart, piece by piece, his mother was back home in Holland, dealing with the devastating effects of cancer.

So "The Reem" made a judgement call and hopped on a flight east to be by her side. This just a short while after his decision to permanently move out to Las Vegas to train with Xtreme Couture in preparation for the biggest fight of his life at UFC 141 on Dec. 30.

But, in reality, there is no fight bigger than the fight for life, which, of course, takes precedent over title shots and belts and Octagon's and whatnot.

The good news, according to Overeem himself via his blog at Yahoo! Sports, is that his mother is recovering and his moving back to Holland won't hurt his training one bit. In fact, it will help it. I'll let him explain:



I am now training for Lesnar in Holland. I flew back about a week ago. I don't want to go too deep into personal matters, but what happened was my mother is recovering from cancer and needs my support. She needs me in Holland over the next couple of weeks and I came back for her.

What I can say is that going back to Holland to be with my mother won't be a distraction; it is actually stopping me from getting distracted. If I stayed in Las Vegas for this camp I would be constantly worried about her and my focus would have been compromised. Now I can train 100 percent, and know she's just across town.

Overeem hasn't lost a fight since winning the Strikeforce heavyweight championship all the way back in Nov. 2007. His journey has since taken him from Japan to Amsterdam to St. Louis and on down to Dallas, Texas.

And now he's headed for "Sin City" to face off against a behemoth.

The match-up is intriguing and the bout interesting but it's difficult to imagine Overeem fighting at 100-percent capacity. After all, 90-percent of the fight game is half mental, as Tim Sylvia would say.

Will "The Reem" be adversely affected by the status of his mother?

Either way, we certainly wish her all the best during her difficult time.

That is tough, good for him for going home to be with her, hopefully he is able to come back and focus on this fight, I want to see the best Reem against Brock