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Alistair Overeem Bio
Alistair Cees Overeem (born May 17, 1980) is a Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer from the Netherlands, signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and made history by being the only fighter in combat sports to hold a world title in both MMA and K-1 kickboxing at the same time. As of November 2010, Overeem is ranked as the #3 best heavyweight mixed martial artist in the world by Sherdog, #3 by MMAWeekly, #3 by Yahoo! Sports, #2 by FightMagazine.com #2 by MMAFighting.com. and #3 In the ESPN MMA Power Rankings.
Biography
Overeem was born on May 17, 1980(1980-05-17) in the London Borough of Hounslow, England to a Dutch mother and Jamaican father. His parents divorced when he was six years old. His mother, Clair, then moved Alistair and his brother Valentijn to the Netherlands, where Alistair has lived ever since.
As a child, Overeem competed in sports like judo, athletics and basketball. At 15 years of age, his brother Valentijn took him to Chris Dolman's gym to teach him how to defend himself. At first he didn't like to train, but after training with Bas Rutten, Joop Kasteel and others, he eventually learned to enjoy it.
Mixed martial arts career
Overeem had his first MMA professional fight at 19 years old, defeating Ricardo Fyeet by guillotine choke submission on October 24, 1999 (1999-10-24) at It's Showtime, the first event of the eponymously named promotion.
Early MMA Career
After posting a 10–3 record in promotions such as RINGS, Overeem debuted in Pride Fighting Championships on July 20, 2002, defeating Yusuke Imamura by TKO in just 44 seconds.
Pride FC
Overeem would win two more fights in Pride before entering the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix at Pride Total Elimination 2003 and losing to future UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell in the quarterfinal match. Overeem rebounded to defeat Tomohiko Hashimoto at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 in 36 seconds. On October 31, 2004 he fought Hiromitsu Kanehara, defeating him by TKO part-way through the first round at Pride 28. He lost his next fight against Brazilian Top Team fighter Antônio Rogério Nogueira.
In 2005, Overeem entered the Pride Middle Weight Grand Prix at Pride Total Elimination 2005 where he defeated former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort by submission in the opening round. Overeem would move on to fight Igor Vovchanchyn in the quarterfinals at Pride Critical Countdown 2005 taking under two minutes to win by submission. Overeem lost in the semi-finals to the eventual champion Mauricio Rua.
In February 2006, Overeem fought Russian Top Team favorite Sergei Kharitonov. Overeem won the fight, dislocating Kharitonov's shoulder in the process. With his win over Kharitonov, Overeem secured a spot in the Pride 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix at Pride Total Elimination Absolute. He fought Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist Fabricio Werdum, losing via kimura in the second round.
Debut in Strikeforce
After his loss, Overeem traveled to San Jose, California to rematch Vitor Belfort at Strikeforce: Revenge. Despite being the main event, Overeem pulled out a decision win in a lackluster fight.
Return to Pride
A month later Overeem returned to Pride for a highly anticipated rematch with Antônio Rogério Nogueira. Overeem entered the fight with a heavily taped neck. After controlling the first round and a half with his striking, Overeem was stumbled from a punch, Nogueira followed with a flurry of strikes. Worried Overeem would be more severely injured, his corner threw in the towel.
At Pride Final Conflict Absolute, he lost to Ricardo Arona. Overeem was on the receiving end of a leg kick that caused a non-serious injury to his nerves, causing him to lose feeling in his foot and leg. Unable to mount an offense or defend against Arona, Overeem tapped out to avoid further injury.
He then suffered another KO loss to Mauricio Rua at Pride 33, but returned in June 2007 with a submission win over Michael Knaap at K-1 Grand Prix in Amsterdam (despite K-1 being a kickboxing promotion, the bout was fought under MMA rules).
On September 17, 2007, at Hero's 10: Middleweight Tournament Final Alistair faced Sergei Kharitonov again. Overeem showed solid movement as soon as the first round began, but he suffered a KO loss just before the end of the first round.
Return to Strikeforce/Dream/Dynamite
On November 16, 2007, Overeem defeated Paul Buentello for the vacant Strikeforce heavyweight title by submission due to knee strikes.
On June 15, 2008 Overeem won by KO in the first round against Lee Tae-Hyun at Dream 4. On July 21, 2008, Overeem defeated K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 champion Mark Hunt in the first round by submission at Dream 5.
His next fight was against Mirko Filipović at Dream 6 on September 23, 2008. After almost half of the first round which saw Overeem taking down Filipovic multiple times and effectively striking from the top position, cutting his Croatian foe, the bout was stopped and declared a no contest due to Alistair landing multiple knees to the groin of Filipovic.
In a 2008 interview, Overeem has stated that he would like to fight in the UFC in the near future. Overeem would ideally like a rematch with Chuck Liddell to avenge his Pride Total Elimination 2003 knockout loss and Mirko Cro Cop to avenge his disappointing no-contest in Dream. Overeem was also seen at UFC 93 in Ireland talking to Dana White and indicating he is "ready" to fight in the UFC.
Overeem was rumored to make his first title defense against Heavyweight Brett Rogers on June 6 at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields, however a hand injury scuttled plans for the fight. According to Golden Glory manager Bas Boon, Overeem had suffered a hand infection following a nightclub brawl early May 2009. According to Boon, Alistair and his brother Valentijn – both heavyweights – had been involved in an altercation that left five security staff needing hospital treatment and nearly cost Alistair his hand.
Overeem was scheduled to make his first Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship defense in a rematch against Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg, but had to pull out due to a hand injury, most likely caused from his nightclub brawl.
Alistair defeated Tony Sylvester at Golden Glory's 10 year anniversary celebration with a standing guillotine choke. He used the same choke only 8 days later to submit James Thompson at Dream 12.
Overeem has stated that he wants a rubber match with Badr Hari, only this time in an MMA bout.
Overeem was set to face Andrei Arlovski at Dynamite!! 2009 but FEG instead opted to have him face, Kazuyuki Fujita to keep with the Dream Vs. Sengoku theme. Overeem quickly overpowered his opponent and recorded a knockout with a knee to the head.
Overeem then faced Brett Rogers on May 15, 2010 at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery to defend his Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship. He won the fight via TKO (punches) in the first round. In his post-fight interview, Alistair Overeem declared for another time that he wants to fight Fedor Emelianenko, claiming that Fedor's management can no longer ignore his presence. The majority of Alistair Overeem's pre-fight training camp took place at the newly opened Golden Glory Gym in Pattaya, Thailand, where "The Demolition Man" concentrated on the further improvement of his Muay Thai skills.
Overeem faced Todd Duffee on December 31, 2010 at Dynamite!! 2010. Overeem defeated Duffee by way of knockout 19 seconds into the first round to win the Dream Interim Heavyweight Championship.
Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix
In early 2011, Alistair Overeem was named as one of 8 men that will take part of the Strikeforce Heavyweight GP, alongside rivals Fabricio Werdum, Sergei Kharitonov, Brett Rogers, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Antonio Silva and Fedor Emelianenko.
A rematch with Fabricio Werdum took place on June 18, 2011, at Strikeforce: Dallas as part of an eight-man heavyweight tournament. Overeem won by unanimous decision.
Removal from GP/Strikeforce
On July 17, it was announced Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem was removed from the promotion’s 2011 heavyweight grand prix. Overeem went on to state that he felt the September date was too soon for him to return, and that he needed time to rest and heal after his June 18 quarterfinal decision win over Fabricio Werdum. Overeem swapped out for unbeaten up-and-comer Daniel Cormier. Subsequently, on July 29, it was announced that Overeem had been released from the Strikeforce organization as Zuffa exercised their right to eliminate the one remaining fight on his contract. It was revealed that the reason behind Overeem's release from Strikeforce was not due to his unwillingness to participate in the GP semi finals, but due to Golden Glory's policy requiring that the money fighters made through fights be paid through their management first.
This disagreement led not only to Overeem's release but also other Golden Glory stars under a Zuffa contract, including former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion Marloes Coenen, Norwegian UFC heavyweight Jon Olav Einemo, and even brother Valentijn Overeem. Team Golden Glory leader Bas Boon stated he has since changed the policy, and that Alistair Overeem could come to the UFC under an exclusive deal, if the right terms are offered. Now it appears that Zuffa and Team Golden Glory are back on speaking terms, and UFC president Dana White is hoping to strike a deal with Overeem. “We’re talking to Overeem,” White confirmed. “Well, they’ve changed their opinions on how they can do business with us, so now we can.”
Ultimate Fighting Championship
On December 30, 2011, at UFC 141, Overeem made his UFC debut in the main event against former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in what ultimately turned out to be Lesnar's final mixed martial arts fight. He defeated Lesnar by flooring him with a liver kick then finishing him off with an unanswered flurry of punches, prompting the referee to intervene and stop the fight, awarding Overeem a 1st round TKO victory and earning him a title shot against heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.
The fight took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Overeem stayed for New Year's weekend.
Kickboxing career
Overeem had his first professional kickboxing fight at 17 years old, in a K-1 rules fight on November 15, 1997 (1997-11-15). After that he fought against Paul Hordijk, winning by decision on March 14, 1999 (1999-03-14). Alistair then moved onto K-1, having two K-1 Kickboxing fights in 6 years against Errol Parris and Glaube Feitosa. Alistair was knocked out in both bouts and stayed with MMA from then on. He did not fight in K-1 for 4 more years.
On December 31, 2008 Overeem faced Badr Hari, one of K-1's top contenders, under K-1 rules. He defeated Hari by way of knockout in the first round. After that, he faced Remy Bonjasky, the defending K-1 champion. Overeem came out aggressive in the first and second rounds, bullying Bonjasky and landing some impressive offense, but in the third was knocked down by a right hook from Bonjasky, who thereby secured a unanimous decision win. All three judges scored the bout 30–28.
On September 26 at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final 16, having been selected by fan voting after his impressive performances against Remy Bonjasky and Badr Hari, Overeem shocked the kickboxing world by achieving a huge upset. He defeated K-1's longest serving member, legendary 3-time champion Peter Aerts by unanimous decision. At the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final Overeem knocked out Kyokushin Karate Champion, Ewerton Teixeira with a knee strike in the first round, but lost to Badr Hari, via TKO from a head kick in the Semi Finals.
At the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Yokohama Alistair Overeem defeated Dzevad Poturak via KO (right knee) in Round 1 at 2:40. Overeem defeated Ben Edwards by TKO in the first round on October 2, 2010 at K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final 16.
On December 11, at the Ariake Coliseum Alistair fought at and won the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final. In the quarter finals he beat Tyrone Spong by Unanimous decision. In the semi finals he came face to face with his teammate Gokhan Saki, who he defeated by first round TKO due to injury, breaking Saki's right arm with a hard left kick. Saki's arm was already injured as a result of his previous fight with Daniel Ghita. In the finals, he fought Peter Aerts for the second time. Alistair came out aggressively and finished Peter in the first round.
Personal life
Overeem has a daughter named Le Blanco Nippelo. On a Japanese comedy show, Alistair Overeem claimed that his great-great-grandfather was William III of the Netherlands. Overeem had a cameo in the music video for the song "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO in September 2011. He won a celebrity sumo tournament in Japan in September 2011.
Legal Issues
According to the Las Vegas Police Department, Overeem pushed or shoved a woman in the face, "causing her to stagger back," in an incident that occured at the Wynn Las Vegas at about 3 a.m. on January 2, 2012 following his match with Brock Lesnar at UFC 141. Not arrested but summoned to court, Overeem has been charged for misdemeanor battery, facing a maximum of six months in the Clark County Detention Center and not more than a $1,000 fine. Represented by David Chesnoff, he is scheduled to appear in court at 8 a.m. on February 21, 2012.
Championships and accomplishments
Kickboxing
- K-1
- K-1 2010 World Grand Prix (Champion)
- K-1 2009 World Grand Prix (Third place)
Mixed martial arts
- Strikeforce
- Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship (One time; First; Last)
- One successful title defense
- Pride Fighting Championships
- 2005 Middleweight Tournament (Third place)
- DREAM
- Dream Heavyweight Championship (One time; First)
- 2 Hot 2 Handle
- 2H2H Light Heavyweight Champion
- 2H2H Light Heavyweight Tournament Champion
- World MMA Awards
- 2010 International Fighter of the Year
- 2011 International Fighter of the Year
Submission grappling
- Abu Dhabi Combat Club
- 2005 ADCC European Trials Winner
