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'I'm the best striker in MMA' - Overeem

Alistair Overeem, pounds on Brett "The Grim" Rogers © PA Photos

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Alistair Overeem believes he is the best striker in MMA and is desperate to prove himself in the UFC.

The Strikeforce heavyweight champion returns to action for the first time in over a year when he faces Fabricio Werdum on Saturday night.

After defending his title against Brett Rogers last May, and with Werdum injured and Fedor Emelianenko not interested, Overeem turned his attentions to Japan, where he fought in the Dream and K-1 promotions.

Though his Strikeforce title is not on the line against Werdum as the pair go head-to-head in the Strikeforce Grand Prix quarter-finals in Dallas, Overeem is desperate to avenge a defeat to the Brazilian in May 2006.

"It's one of these fights where you're not entirely in shape. Or actually in bad shape going into the fight," he told MMA Fighting. "Going into that fight, I just had surgery. The surgery had a big impact on my body, on my conditioning.

"It was one of those fights that kept nagging me and I've been wanting this rematch for a very long time. I think Fabricio has perfected himself to be the best grappler in MMA and I think I've perfected myself to be the best striker in MMA."

But despite becoming the first man to hold a world title in both MMA and kickboxing at the same time, Overeem acknowledges that he still has plenty to prove, and remains hopeful of making his UFC debut in the near future.

"You could say, 'Alistair is not top 10 or top 5 because he has not fought this guy and that guy', but I think where the fans get their motivation is that I did fight a lot, I did have a lot of knockouts or submissions," he said.

"I am the only fighter to hold a major MMA belt as well as the K1 organization. Nobody has ever done that before. The only way to find out is for those fights to happen. Now that Zuffa has fought Strikeforce, it's one step closer."

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