Fabricio Werdum: Alistair Overeem 'Changes Completely Without the Juice'

UFC heavyweight title contender Fabricio Werdum has no love for old foe Alistair Overeem, attributing the majority of his success to performance-enhancing drugs in a recent interview. 

Speaking to MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz, "Vai Cavalo" said Overeem's latest struggles inside the Octagon are a direct result of no longer using steroids. 

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"He lacks a little bit in gas because of his steroids," Werdum said. "He changes a lot if you take his juice off. Everybody saw what happened. Overeem is one fighter with his juice, but he changes completely without the juice. They took his powers ... Let’s see how he does against Frank Mir, if he changed his strategy or training," he said. "Frank Mir is not doing well recently too, but I believe Overeem will defend the takedowns and knock him out. Overeem is a good fighter, but let’s how he does without his juice."

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A former Strikeforce and K-1 champion, Overeem had a ton of hype behind him when he made his Octagon debut at UFC 141 in December 2011. 

"The Demolition Man" made short work of former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, finishing him with a body kick and barrage of punches midway through the first round. 

However, it has been all downhill for "The Reem" since then. 

The Dutch-British striker, with a solid submission game to match, was set to face off with then-champ Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 in May of last year, but that matchup never happened since Overeem was caught with elevated levels of testosterone in a pre-fight drug test, per MMA Junkie. 

After serving his nine-month suspension, issued by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the 33-year-old has suffered back-to-back knockout losses to top five heavyweights Antonio Silva and Travis Browne.

Arguably the worst part of the losses is that Overeem was dominating both opponents before getting his lights put out.

He looks to rebound against another heavyweight who desperately needs a win, Frank Mir, at UFC 169 in February.

Werdum and Overeem have faced off in competition, with Werdum winning their first encounter in May 2006, which took place inside the Pride ring, with a kimura, and Overeem scoring a lackluster decision victory over his Brazilian counterpart under the Strikeforce banner in June 2011. 

Since that loss, Werdum has won three straight fights inside the Octagon, earning him the distinction of being the third best heavyweight fighter in the world, according to the UFC's official rankings. 

Werdum is currently not booked for a fight, so if Overeem gets past Mir, would a rubber match between the two rivals make sense?

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.