Alistair Overeem Doesn't Think Francis Ngannou Is On The Same Level As Him

One of the most highly anticipated fights 0f UFC 218 this weekend is the co-main event between Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou.

Both men will be looking to put themselves in the frame for a future UFC heavyweight title shot and the stakes couldn’t be higher as two of the hardest hitting men in the UFC prepare to clash.

Speaking to the UFC Unfiltered podcast this week about the upcoming fight, Overeem said he doesn’t think Ngannou presents as much of challenge as some of his previous opponents such as Junior Dos Santos.

“He’s a very strong guy,” Overeem admitted. “You know, I see the fight going a little bit the same it went with JDS, maybe a little different. JDS is a really good strong guy as well, but errr, yeah. I don’t think Francis is as tough as JDS.

“I hold JDS in a very high regard despite him being in a little bit of trouble now. JDS is tough man, all these guys are tough and Francis is tough too.

“He’s strong too, but is he that level? We’re going to find out on Saturday. I don’t think he is.”

At 37-years-old, Overeem is in the twilight years of his career and his chances of becoming the UFC heavyweight champion aren’t getting better with time. When the Dutchman was told Ngannou’s age, Overeem couldn’t quite believe that he was six years older than the Cameroonian-french fighter.

“Is he really that old? That guy looks older than I am,” Overeem said when he was told Ngannou was 31-years-old.

“Can I see some documents? Can I see some papers? What is going on here?”

Check out MMANytt.com’s exclusive interview with Francis Ngannou yesterday: