Alistair Overeem (39-14 MMA, 4-3 UFC) is a busy, busy man, so to say he’s waiting for the phone to ring wouldn’t exactly be fair. That said, he is looking forward to receiving his next assignment from the UFC, and he’s hoping that somehow it makes sense to fight Junior Dos Santos (17-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC).

“I’m waiting word of my next fight, which could also be at any moment,” Overeem told MMAjunkie’s John Morgan on the latest edition of “The MMA Road Show.” “It could be today, or it could be within the next two or three weeks, so I stay in shape for that. Whenever that next date is set, then we’re going to adjust the plans and go from there.”

Overeem, who turns 35 later this week, fought most recently in March, earning a hard-fought decision win over Roy Nelson. Overeem currently sits at No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, and with most of the division’s top-ranked fighters already matched up against another fellow contender, there just aren’t a lot of matchups that make sense for him other than Dos Santos, with whom he’s been linked for a potential fight for quite some time.

“It sounds logical to me,” Overeem said. “I am a fighter. I still have five years. I want to go up, and he is the No. 1 guy up because you have the interim champ (Fabricio) Werdum, and you have the champ Cain (Velasquez). So he’s right underneath there, and I want to go up.

“I want to fight for the title, so you want to look up. You don’t want to look down. The other things is that the Junior fight has been spoken about so many times. Everybody wants to see that fight. That fight is going to happen, so I’m thinking, ‘OK, why not now?'”

Unfortunately for Overeem, he’s hoping to book another contest in the next few months, while Dos Santos could be out until closer to October as he continues to rehab an injured knee, along with a minor procedure to his nose. So Overeem may soon face a difficult decision as he elects to either wait for a fight that seems to make a ton of sense or book something else in hopes of staying a bit more active.

“I didn’t know he was injured,” Overeem admitted. “For me, yeah, I’m here. I’ve been very busy. I don’t know exactly what’s going on. I haven’t spoken with management or the UFC about it. I was actually expecting a call any moment: ‘OK, this is going to be your date with Junior.’ I’m ready for it, and if it needs to be a little bit later – I mean, I need to talk to everybody about it. Maybe we’ll wait. Maybe we won’t.

“Josh Barnett is a huge name from Japan. That’s something that we share. I don’t know. I know that ‘I don’t know’ is a stupid answer, but I cannot give you more at this point.”

It’s an important moment in Overeem’s career. He’s certainly enjoyed success at the highest lever for quite some time in both MMA and kickboxing, but the UFC title has evaded him thus far. It wasn’t too long ago he was 1-3 over a four-fight run, but he has completely turned that around and is now 3-1 in his past four appearances.

With several key fights lined up in the UFC’s heavyweight division, Overeem knows making the right choice right now is critical to his ultimate goal, and he’s hopeful things will work out in his favor.

“You have periods where everything is great, and you have periods where everything sucks,” Overeem said. “You’ve just got to keep going and stay positive. You know if you have that attitude and you’re willing to work hard, you’re going to do fine.

“I’m hoping for ‘JDS.’ That fight makes sense, so we’re just going to wait to see what’s up. If he’s injured, of course he can’t make it. But if he’s not injured, I would love to fight him.

“I’m just working hard and focusing on me. I’m working hard, improving every day and just focusing on me. When you don’t hear me, I’m still focusing on me.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.