The current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem talks about the differences between K-1 (stand-up combat sport) and MMA (mixed martial arts). Although he believes MMA is much tougher than K-1, he will try to obtain top titles in both sports before he retires. He mentions the fact that winning the K-1 title is not his ultimate goal, but continues competing there because he just wants to have fun.
From Alistair Overeem:
“Though they look similar, they are totally different sports. There is no fighter who holds the top title in both [K-1 and MMA]. If the other top eight K-1 fighters fought me in MMA, I would beat them in two or three minutes. It’s a different arena. Anyway, K-1 isn’t my ultimate goal. It’s a side road. A checkpoint. I just want to have fun. If it’s not, I’ll just go back to MMA. MMA is a tough sport. There are five, five-minute rounds, and you have stand-up and ground techniques. You have not only punches, but you get kneed in the face repeatedly. Then K-1 is three, three-minute rounds. PRIDE had 10 minutes per round, right? Even with conditions like that, I am one of the top fighters. Compared to that, K-1 is easy.”
