Fighters Only

Issue 063

June 2010

STATISTICS

Name: Alistair Overeem

Age: 30

Height: 6’5”

Category: Heavyweight

Record 32-11-0; 12 (T)KO’s (37.5%); 19 Subs (59.38%); 1 Decision (3.13 %)

Fighting style: Muay Thai

Fights out of: Amsterdam, Holland

Active since: 1999

Dutch heavyweight titan Alistair Overeem is one of the most talked about fighters to come out of Europe. A 6’5” kickboxer, Overeem has fought across the globe and is a deadly effective striker. Like many Dutch fighters, he has an excellent pedigree in Muay Thai, though he is a well-rounded mixed martial artist with 19 submission victories to his name.

‘The Demolition Man’ made his professional debut at the young age of 19 and has racked up over 40 MMA fights in an 11-year career. Overeem has faced a veritable who’s who of names in MMA, and fought much of his career at light heavyweight before finally deciding to move up to the heavyweight devision. He has shared the ring with fighters such as Mark Hunt, ‘Cro Cop’, ‘Shogun’ Rua, Ricardo Arona, Vitor Belfort, Sergei Kharitonov, Igor Vovchanchyn and Chuck Liddell.

The Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Overeem returns to action in May when he will face the burly Brett Rogers. Some fans are disappointed that Overeem is not facing Fedor Emelianenko, the Russian considered the best heavyweight on the planet. Overeem has engaged in a lengthy war of words with Fedor’s management and stated he would love the chance to be the first person to defeat ‘The Last Emperor’. Should Overeem beat Rogers in May, look for a possible summer matchup between the two in either the USA or Japan.

Muscles

Overeem was always considered a lanky and somewhat skinny light heavyweight, and he would often struggle to make the weight limit of 205lb. A few years of regimented weight training and a lot of horse meat (Overeem is reported to love the stuff) has seen his weight blow up to over 250lb. Now a gigantic heavyweight, Overeem has sacrificed some of his flexibility (he no longer throws head kicks) but his agility and speed are still there – witness his flying knee on James Thompson for evidence.

Guillotine

Though fans still think of Overeem mainly as a striker, he is in fact a talented grappler with a mean guillotine choke. Of his 19 submission wins, eight have been thanks to the chokehold. His long and muscular arms make them perfectly suited to being wrapped around his opponents’ necks, while his height puts him at an obvious advantage in securing the position to set up the choke.

Knees

Any good Thai boxer will have a destructive set of knees, and Overeem is no exception. Look for him to walk forward and throw a high knee followed by a hook with the opposite hand, a simple yet classic combination that has caught out many of his opponents. Over half of Overeem’s TKO wins have come via way of his knees.