(“It doesn’t surprise me. It’s typical of them to look a gift horse in the mouth.”)

Alistair Overeem’s legal counsel, Kent Goss sent out a press release last night to members of the MMA media to address the current $151,000 lawsuit against Golden Glory’s parent company, Knock Out Investments and counter-litigation between his client and his former management team. According to the release, in spite of a series of calculated moves by Golden Glory to discredit Overeem and to affect him psychologically heading into his UFC debut against Brock Lesnar in December, the former Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1 heavyweight champion has opted not to return fire against them. Instead, Goss says, Alistair has waited for the right time to speak out about the claims by Golden Glory and that the time for him to do so is rapidly approaching.

Here is the full statement from the email we received last night from Goss’ Los Angeles-based Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP law firm:

“This is Alistair Overeem’s first formal public comment on his ongoing litigation with Golden Glory. He has avoided comment up to now for many reasons. First, Alistair believes that the split between himself and Golden Glory should be kept between the parties. Although he has been tempted to expose ongoing problems with Golden Glory’s business, its poor relationship with some of its remaining fighters, and the deep betrayal he has experienced in recent years, he has chosen not to air the specifics of those facts.

Second, Alistair was singularly focused on his fight with Brock Lesnar.

Third, Alistair does not want to disrupt Golden Glory’s ongoing business operations. Fourth, Alistair believes that commenting on the litigation lacks professionalism. Golden Glory continues to take action by press release, through public comment and in the litigation in an apparent attempt to derail Alistair’s career. Now that Alistair has defeated Brock Lesnar, he feels compelled to speak up. You will hear from Alistair on many of these topics directly.”

The letter goes on to ask that both fans and the MMA media refrain from simply believing the side that speaks the loudest, and that they wait until all of the facts come out before coming to any conclusions about who is actually to blame in the sensitive situation.

“We can say that Alistair and his legal team are very confident in the legal positions he has taken or will take in the California and Nevada litigation. Alistair is looking forward to having a judge or jury determine the merits of his position in this litigation. Although overtures regarding resolution of the lawsuits have been made by Golden Glory, Alistair believes it is important to see this matter to conclusion, not just for himself, but for other Golden Glory fighters, the UFC and its fans.”

We’ll have more from the story as the court cases evolve and Overeem finally breaks his silence.