At Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 7 event in Russia, Alistair Overeem dispatched of 70-fight veteran Aleksei Oleinik with relative ease, earning his second consecutive first-round TKO win.
At 38 years old, Overeem has 20 years of MMA experience, coupled with a stellar kickboxing career, as well. But his name is seldom mentioned in discussions about the greatest heavyweights of all time. When “The Demolition Man” does decide to hang up his gloves – which might not necessarily be any time especially soon – how will he be remembered? MMA Junkie’s Fernanda Prates, Ben Fowlkes and John Morgan look at Overeem’s legacy in this edition of “Triple Take.”
Win or lose, Overeem is consistent in showing up
From February 2013 to now, Alistair Overeem has competed in the octagon a total of 15 times. For comparison purposes, let’s see how that looks next to some data on some of some of the division’s former champions.
In the same timeframe, notoriously injury-prone Cain Velasquez has only fought five times. Junior Dos Santos isn’t as far behind, but still falls six fights short of Overeem’s mark. Stipe Miocic comes a little closer, but has still competed only 11 times. Fabricio Werdum, in turn, was going into his 11th appointment since 2013 when USADA hit him with a two-year suspension last year.
“The Reem” still isn’t the leader of recent heavyweight consistency; Derrick Lewis, for instance, has fought 17 times since joining the UFC in 2014. But that doesn’t take away from Overeem’s feat of making himself a reliable presence in an unreliable sport – and hovering around the top as he does it.
There are downsides to activity, of course, and Overeem’s long career comes with a few interesting stats – his 13 knockout losses in MMA competition, for instance, are the most of any active member on the UFC roster. Overeem has also suffered some key losses at bad times and lost his one UFC title bid in the first round.
Win or lose, though, fact is that Overem (45-17 MMA, 10-6 UFC) is always just … there. And, unlike other remarkably active UFC veterans such as ex-champ Andrei Arlovski, Overeem is still doing more winning than losing.
Which is why wins like this past Saturday’s first-round TKO of Alexey Oleinik in St. Petersburg, Russia, seem to always be followed by questions about Overeem’s future. Does this 38-year-old veteran still have what it takes to hang with the very best? If so, for how long? Can we still expect to see Overeem as a UFC champion someday?
I frankly don’t know how to answer any of these questions. What I do know is that, regardless of what comes of Overeem’s efforts, I’ve come to expect to see him consistently making them. And that is, in itself, quite a statement.
Next page – Ben Fowlkes: He’s never won the big one, but he’s taken on all comers and beat most of them – and for a very, very long time
Ben Fowlkes: He’s never won the big one, but he’s taken on all comers and beat most of them – and for a very, very long time
Back in 2005, there was this skinny beanpole of a kid who used to come down to the ring with a giant wooden hammer and then knee the crap out of people in the PRIDE “middleweight” division. That year he entered the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix (still one of the best MMA tournaments ever) and submitted both Vitor Belfort and Igor Vovchanchyn – two legends of the game, even then – before getting knocked out by eventual GP winner “Shogun” Rua.
All those fighters I just mentioned, Belfort, Vovchanchyn and Rua? They’re more or less done, either officially retired or just barely hanging on. Rua’s the most active, and he’s fought just five times since 2014.
Meanwhile, the beanpole by the name of Overeem has been all over the world fighting absolutely everyone he could get his hands on. Has he beaten them all? Well, no. Much like his days in PRIDE, he has, in fact, never won the big one. At least not in MMA, and not in any organization with a division that matters.
Still, you don’t get over 60 pro fights in 20 years (while still sparing time for K-1 kickboxing) without getting out there and getting after it. Whatever else we may say about Overeem – and especially his occasional alter-ego, the suspiciously muscled “Ubereem” – we have to give him credit for accepting every challenge.
He won most of them, too. You look at his list of triumphs in the UFC and elsewhere, and you see a lot of meaningful names. He just never won the title, and as he fights on into his late 30s it’s increasingly unlikely that he ever will.
Maybe that’s not the worst thing that can happen to a guy. Overeem still gets his respect as a fighter who’s been doing it for forever, and doing it very, very well. Which, if you had to choose between a brief season as champion and a two-decade career as a perennial top competitor, aren’t there arguments you could make in favor of both?
Next page – John Morgan: He may not be the GOAT, but he’s certainly a horse in the race
John Morgan: He may not be the GOAT, but he’s certainly a horse in the race
You can’t have a deep dive on Overeem and not make at least one reference to his penchant for horse meat, right?
Listen, Overeem may never have won “the big one,” but it’s shockingly not exactly out of the question, even at 38. “The Demolition Man” is a staple of the heavyweight rankings, and his name power alone makes him a viable option for potential opportunities in heavyweight title bouts. Even though it may seem unlikely for now, it’s certainly not impossible.
But even if Overeem is never able to put a UFC title belt in his trophy case, it’s already got plenty of hardware to display, with Strikeforce and DREAM titles residing alongside a K-1 World Grand Prix trophy.
There will always be an asterisk, of sorts, in terms of evaluating Overeem’s career. The transformation from the “beanpole” Ben referenced to the peak “Ubereem” that fought Brock Lesnar has understandably raised some eyebrows, and a series of questionable drug tests resulted in a de facto nine-month suspension back in 2012. That said, Overeem spent much of his career under the PRIDE banner, where performance-enhancing drug use was rampant to the point of almost being required. And, of course, he was also competing at the sport’s highest level during the UFC’s testosterone era, as well.
But setting that discussion aside, Overeem has built an impressive legacy in the cage. His record reads like a who’s who list of multiple eras of the sport. And while his K-1 accomplishments stand as testament to his striking ability, the towering Dutchman has also earned 17 career wins by submission, as well, including one by Peruvian necktie(!!!).
Overeem is one of the most recognizable fighters in the history of MMA, fighting at the top of the bill for the UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce and DREAM for the past two decades. His longevity isn’t typical, and he doesn’t appear to be ready to hang up his gloves any time soon. He’s unquestionably among the greatest heavyweights to ever step in a cage, and he’s still competing at a high level – and evolving, after recently moving his training camp to Colorado’s Elevation Fight Team.
Overeem will one day be in the UFC Hall of Fame. Whether or not he claims a UFC title in the twilight of his career – a la Michael Bisping – remains to be seen, but if he walked away from competition today, his body of work would stand up against anyone in the sport. In short, Overeem’s face might not belong on the Mt. Rushmore of MMA heavyweights, but his name belongs in any discussion of the most accomplished names in the sport.
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN+ 7, visit the UFC Events section of the site.
