Reem Debunks Claim He Ducked Lewis — ‘Easy Paycheck’

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Alistair Overeem has fought the deadliest heavyweights in the world, including Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou, and Junior dos Santos, so I find it hard to believe “Demolition Man” would duck No. 4-ranked contender Derrick Lewis.

“The Black Beast,” however, insists Overeem turned him down three times within the last few months, leading to a heavyweight headliner against the submission-savvy Aleksei Oleinik in the UFC Vegas 6 main event this weekend in Las Vegas.

“I already fought just about everybody in the Top 10,” Lewis told the media. “The only guys I haven’t fought are Overeem and [Blaydes]. I’ve been asking to fight Curtis and Overeem. Overeem turned me down like three times in this past month before Oleinik popped up.”

I guess “Reem” didn’t get the memo.

“Why would I turn you down?” Overeem asked on Twitter. “Easy paycheck.”

There’s a pretty solid chance these two will collide before the end of the year, assuming they both win (or both lose). Ngannou is likely to be next in line for the 265-pound strap so if Overeem can turn back Augusto Sakai in September and Lewis prevails on Saturday night, we may finally settle this long-standing score.

Who wins?