Alistair Overeem is one of the best mixed martial artists to ever grace the heavyweight division. His resume speaks for itself. He’s defeated Vitor Belfort, Fabricio Werdum, Brock Lesnar, Junior Dos Santos, and Andrei Arlovski. He’s won championships in Strikeforce, DREAM, K-1, and PRIDE. He has 47 MMA wins with an 89% finish rate. The “Demolition Man” is truly a spectacle for the ages.
His only shortcoming? The illustrious UFC Heavyweight Championship. “The Reem” challenged for it at UFC 203 against Stipe Miocic where he was stopped in the first round by the current heavyweight champion.
At the age of 40, Overeem looks to make one more run for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately, this dream will not be realized.
The Challenge for Alistair Overeem
Overeem currently sits at the #5 rank in the UFC heavyweight standings. He squares off with Alexander Volkov, the #6 rank heavyweight, this Saturday. Presuming the London, England native wins, he will have strung together a three-fight win streak over Walt Harris, Augusto Sakai, and the aforementioned Volkov.
Citing Overeem’s recent fight turnaround time, he would fight again in June. Potential matchups for him would be anyone in the top four, minus Francis Ngannou who fights in March for the heavyweight title. The obvious fight for Overeem would be a rematch against his last suffered loss, Jairzinho Rosenstruik, citing a Rosenstruik win at UFC Fight Night 86 on February 27th.
READ MORE: The 5 Biggest Knockouts of Alistair Overeem’s Career
The Reality
Overeem and Rosenstruik fight in June and Overeem is victorious. Then what? It is hard to say. The heavyweight division is so dynamic right now. Ngannou, Blaydes, Lewis—all could very well challenge for the title before Overeem gets a shot. And who knows where Jon Jones plays into this picture. Time is not on Overeem’s side, and even if he defeats Volkov and (potentially) Rosenstruik, would that earn him a title shot? Possibly, but not probably.
There are too many contenders and too little time. Overeem’s career is a masterpiece, but he will always be known as one of the greatest who failed to obtain UFC gold.
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