Alistair Overeem grateful for new team ‘chemistry’, still optimistic about fighting Junior dos Santos

UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem is set to return to the Octagon on Sept. 5th when he faces Ben Rothwell at UFC Fight Night 50, but this time something will be different. While much of his more recent U.S. run was done as part of the Blackzilians camp, now Overeem returns to the cage as part (for now) as a student of the famed duo of Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in Albuquerque, N.M.

While things clearly didn't work out Overeem in Florida with the Blackzilians, the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion - along with the rest of the Jackson's camp - report everything has been smooth sailing once he showed up to train.

"I think it has to do with chemistry," Overeem told Ariel Helwani on Monday's The MMA Hour. "And chemistry has a lot to do with that mentality. Some people just mix better with other people. From the get go - and you're aiming for the Blackzilians, I think - the mentality was different, so then the chemistry is not optimal."

"It's not their fault," Overeem explained. "It's not my fault. It's just the way it is. Sometimes you meet people and the chemistry's not all there, but still you're kind of in a marriage because you're training with them on your team. But when the chemistry's not optimal, you'll never get optimal results.

"As soon as I came here with a blank sheet, I was just myself. I knew, 'You're coming into a new group.' I've been training for 20 years now, so I'd had my fair share of gyms. You just have to be relaxed. Give it some time, show yourself. There's other people in the gym, other stars. Just observe a little. Take it easy. And that's exactly what I've been doing here. The chemistry, people are a little more like the mentality that I have. So, it works."

Overeem calls the city of Albuquerque 'slow', but that's it a nice alternative, free from distraction. Besides, the training is great, the people are friendly and while he can't commit to saying he's a full-fledged member of the team, he can't rule out that happening either.

"Well, I just take things day by day. For now, things are very good," he explained. "Let's just see how it goes. And that goes for the team and that goes for me. You don't get to know somebody in a month or two months. That stuff takes a year, maybe two years. That's something I've learned. Let's just go by how it goes."

Unbeknownst to most, though, is that Overeem alleges he's already got along well with members of the Jackson's camp even though he fought two of them. Once he showed up, it was very much a process of putting together the pieces of what was already there. It's not as if the fights didn't happen, but they didn't impact anyone's ability to get along.

"To add on that, I've always had positive encounters with Jon Jones every time I saw him. We were laughing, talking and going and it was positive. The same with Frank Mir. Even though we fought, before the fight we already agreed on training together a little after the fight. Then our fight came.

"[Travis Browne and I] never really spoke before we fought, but then after we fought, we had the most nice talk after," he said. "I was beating him and then he surprised me and knocked me out with his front kick. And it was just very positive.

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Alistair Overeem grateful for new team 'chemistry', still optimistic about fighting Junior dos Santos