Alistair Overeem’s 40th birthday was quite unique.
The former Strikeforce and DREAM heavyweight champion turned 40 minutes after picking up his 46th career MMA win. Overeem (46-18 MMA, 11-7 UFC) defeated Walt Harris in the main event of UFC on ESPN 8, which went down Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Dutch fighter survived a rough first round and came back to dominate the action in the second and eventually get the stoppage. Overeem stopped Walt Harris with a TKO at the 3:00 mark of Round 2.
Overeem was dropped hard by Harris and almost finished with ground-and pound halfway in the first round. He was able to bounce back using his wrestling and tagged Harris on the ground until the first five minutes finished.
Overeem continued that momentum in Round 2. He dropped Harris, got back mount and landed many shots until the referee was forced to wave off the fight.
The clock struck midnight during Overeem’s post-fight medicals and his corner made sure to celebrate the veteran. Even at 40, Overeem is working his way back to title contention. He’s 3-1 in his past four outings with his lone defeat being a last second comeback by Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Below is a video of Overeem’s corner singing him happy birthday:
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