Things didn’t go Alistair Overeem’s way Saturday night.
The longtime UFC heavyweight contender suffered a TKO loss to Alexander Volkov (33-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 184 in Las Vegas. Overeem (47-19 MMA, 13-8 UFC) was stopped in the second round after getting bloodied and battered on the feet by the Russian in the first round.
Overeem, who saw the end of a two-fight winning streak with the loss, revealed in an Instagram statement Sunday he suffered a broken nose in the first round.
“You’re a true warrior (Alexander Volkov) Congrats on the win!” Overeem wrote on Instagram. “Yesterday wasn’t my night. I could not recover from that punch in the first round after I broke my nose. My highest priority right now is to heal up and spend some well deserved time with the family. I’ll be back in the gym soon though.
“Thank you all for your support! I see the comments, you guys are the best.”
The 40-year-old former title challenger said in the leadup to UFC Fight Night 184 he was on his last run to capture a UFC title and that he was nearing the end of his 22-year career in MMA. Overeem didn’t indicate retirement in his statement and said he would soon return to the gym.
Overeem, a former DREAM, K-1, and Strikeforce heavyweight champion, is 4-2 in his past six outings. He had back-to-back wins over Walt Harris and Agusto Sakai prior to the loss to Volkov.
