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The feud between Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem is reaching boiling point.

The trouble between the two dates back to when the fight was first announced and the issue of where the two teammates would train for it arose.

Arlovski and Overeem are both members of the Jackson-Winkeljohn camp based in Albuquerque, New Mexico but, when the fight was confirmed, head coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn pledged their allegiance to Arlovski because he's trained at the camp for longer than Overeem.

The situation was highlighted in the public eye for the first time when Arlovski spoke out shortly after the bout was announced to air his disapproval at Overeem for asking the UFC for the fight in the first place.

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He claimed Overeem “begged the matchmaker Joe Silva.” The divide between the two has been apparent since then and it was a big topic of discussion at the UFC Rotterdam media day on Friday.

“They [Jackson and Winkeljohn] chose to corner him because he doesn’t have any other alternative,” said Overeem. “It’s totally not a problem, I’m totally cool with the coaches. We all get along great and I’ve spoken to the coaches and we will continue where we left off after this fight.”

He reiterated: “The coaches are just cornering him because he doesn’t work with other coaches. I work with several other coaches all over the world and he only works with Greg [Jackson] and [Mike] Wink and that’s why I think they are like ‘if we don’t corner Arlovski there will be no coaches in his corner so we have to’. They told me about it and I’m like yeah that’s the sport.”

(Image: Getty)

While he downplayed any rift between himself and the camp, Overeem was more bullish about his chances on Sunday night.

“I’m the better fighter, I’m better everywhere,” he said. “I’ve got better cardio, I’m better on the ground, I’m better in the clinch, I’ve got better striking, I’ve got kicks, I’ve got all kinds of weapons to get the job done.”

Arlovski was in more of placid mood and instead referred to strategy being of utmost important for him to get the win.

“I have to stick to my game plan for sure and be really disciplined when on the ground and I have to be very wary of his kicks,” said the Belarusian. "He has great boxing skills so I know that I have to be wary.”

(Image: Getty)

While complimentary of his opponent’s skill set, Arlovski didn't mince his words when it came to speaking about the personal relationship between himself and Overeem, simply stating: “There is no relationship.

"Maybe he is a nice guy and a nice personality but we certainly aren’t going to be friends when we step inside the Octagon on Sunday night that’s for sure.”

Arlovski is expecting to be public enemy number one with the Dutch crowd.

“For sure on Sunday night all in the arena are going to boo me,” said Arlovski. “It’s just fine, it’s going to be the same situation as when I fought ‘Bigfoot Silva’ in Brazil. There was like 95% of fans booing me except for a few people and it was no problem.”