Alistair Overeem calls it “one final run.”
It, in this case, being the pursuit of filling the most glaring hole — one shaped like a UFC championship belt — on an impressive combat sports resume that dates all the way back to the 1990s.
The final run continues Saturday at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, where the hulking Dutchman faces Russia’s Alexander Volkov in the UFC Fight Night heavyweight headliner on ESPN+. He told MMA Junkie last month that, if his gambit to claim the heavyweight title currently held by Stipe Miocic succeeds, he would “retire immediately” with nothing left to prove to himself or the sport.
That begs the question: What would Overeem (47-18, 42 finishes) do if he were to lose before earning a second crack at Miocic, who knocked him out in his only UFC title fight in September 2016? Could a loss to, say, Volkov close the book on what has, entering Saturday, been a 93-fight (“to be exact” by his count, across multiple combat sports) career?
“Maybe, I don’t know,” Overeem told The Post over the phone on Thursday. “It is on a per-fight evaluation basis. Let’s not forget: I do love what I do, but I am getting a little bit older. And listen, everything is still perfect. I’m still healthy. But, yeah, the end is coming, and we need to be realistic about that.”
Overeem, who turned 40 the weekend he knocked out Walt Harris last May, speaks as if he is at peace with his inability to beat Father Time. He’s already got his post-competition career mapped out, and, unsurprisingly, it won’t take him far from his passion for martial arts.
“I’ll become a coach, and I intend to create teams — two teams, one in Thailand and one in the Netherlands,” Overeem said.
The coaching dream seems to excite Overeem, whose MMA accolades include capturing heavyweight championships with former world-stage organizations Strikeforce and Dream. His journey in the sport has taken him to gyms around the world, from Golden Glory in his native Netherlands to U.S.-based Blackzilians, Jackson Wink MMA and, now, Elevation Fight Team in Denver, Colo. He looks upon himself as “the culmination of” all the things he’s learned at his various stops and has been teaching classes, private lessons and seminars for half his life.
“I just love to be on the mat,” Overeem says. “After training for 28 years and competing for 24, I think I have a wealth of knowledge and experience that I can pass on to the next generation.
“The sport is progressing. It’s ever-changing, but I think I’ve learned great things all over the place.”
From boxing to MMA and even non-combat sports, athletes often wind up un-retiring for one reason or another. At least for now, Overeem seems content with the way he did things in his career, taking solace in the feeling that he put “everything in there” during his fighting career, even if he isn’t able to claim the elusive UFC championship. Having the coaching plan in place helps smooth the transition, he believes.
“It’s important to have new goals after the fighting stops because fighting is such a huge part of my life,” Overeem said. “So once that falls away, so to speak, there needs to be something to replace that void.”
When he does leave his gloves in the octagon, be it figuratively or literally — as some fighters symbolically do — Overeem could be the last veteran of Pride FC to compete in the octagon. Only he and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua remain on the UFC roster and had competed for Pride at Saitama Super Arena in Japan, where the majority of events were held. Newer fans may not remember a time when the UFC wasn’t on top, but in the early 2000s, a majority of top heavyweights and light heavyweights competed for the promotion.
In those days, before the UFC won the war and purchased its financially-strapped rival in 2007, Overeem was competing at 205 pounds and had yet to build the massive musculature he now possesses. And while he had mixed results in his 20s competing in Pride’s ring against the likes of Rua, Chuck Liddell and Vitor Belfort, he relishes the experience and his status as one of the last alumni still in the spotlight.
“[It] definitely [means something to me] because Pride was awesome,” Overeem said, “and I’m very thankful that I was a part of that era.”
But before he walks away, 6-foot-7 Volkov (32-8, 24 finishes) is the latest obstacle in his path back to a title shot. He’s the rare opponent in the 6-4 Overeem’s protracted career who will have the height advantage. He’s primarily a striker like Overeem, and it’s reasonable to go in expecting this one to resemble an MMA kickboxing match. But the Dutchman has demonstrated a more diverse attack than the man they call “Drago” during his decades in the sport, with 17 submission victories (despite the last one coming in 2009), as well as several memorable finishes when he took the fight to the mat and won utilizing ground strikes.
Overeem’s striking credentials are legendary. He won kickboxing’s K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 by knocking out all-timer Peter Aerts in the first round of the final, in his estimation the crown jewel of his combat career. He’s technical and powerful, although not unhittable.
Actually, he’s been very vulnerable, especially of late. Of his 18 defeats, 14 came by way of (T)KO. Francis Ngannou, perhaps the hardest hitter across boxing and MMA right now, crushed him with a brutal uppercut in December 2017. A Jairzinho Rozenstruik left-right hook combination ended him him with just four seconds left in a five-round fight Overeem was poised to clearly win by decision — a heartbreaker that stands as the only loss sandwiched between four TKO victories in his last five outings. He’s also been rocked pretty hard in many recent wins, including against heavy-hitting Harris last year before securing a second-round stoppage.
Despite the accumulation of knockout defeats, Overeem isn’t concerned about long-term health effects.
“I think the UFC’s done an excellent job in having us tested,” Overeem said. “We have to do the medicals every fight, before and after. It’s actually multiple medicals. I’m not too worried.”