WASHINGTON – Alistair Overeem knows retirement is looming, and he wants to get out of the fight game before it’s too late. But first, he still has a final goal to accomplish.
Overeem (45-17 MMA, 10-6 UFC) has been active in combat sports for more than two decades. Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 7 headliner against Jair Rozenstruik (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will mark his 91st professional bout, be it MMA, kickboxing or muay Thai. That’s a lot of time trading blows, and at 39, “The Reem” is not oblivious to his reality.
“You have to be realistic,” Overeem told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC on ESPN 7 open workouts. “For me, two years (left fighting). Maybe a little bit more, maybe less. Probably a little bit more. But then it’s going to be enough. But I do believe you have to stop on time. It is a dangerous profession. We’ve been fighting for 23 years. Twenty-three years ago was the first fight, so with that also we need to be clever.”
Despite his years and many accomplishments in the fight game, Overeem said he’s continuing to compete because of one reason: the UFC title.
Overeem, who has claimed belts in Strikeforce, DREAM, K-1 and more during his storied career, fell short of the UFC heavyweight title when he lost to Stipe Miocic at UFC 203 in September 2016. He’s been trying to get back to that spot ever since, and is in good position going into UFC on ESPN 7.
If he’s able to get past undefeated Rozenstruik and push his winning streak to three, Overeem said he believes he could find himself in a title eliminator.
“My career would not be complete without UFC gold,” Overeem said. “I just need to win my fights. If you win Saturday, I’ll probably have to do one more win then we can make noise for a title shot.”
The man standing in the way of Overeem and his next step, though, is Rozenstruik. Like Overeem, Rozenstruik comes from a striking background. He’s finished all three of his UFC wins by knockout, with the past two coming in a combined 38 seconds.
Although Rozenstruik might not yet have the notoriety of other top heavyweights, Overeem still knows he’s entering the octagon with a dangerous foe, but he intends to give him his first loss.
“The goal is the same,” Overeem said. “We’re going to fight, we’re going to win, we’re going to fatigue (him), we’re going to take him to deep waters, we’re going to take him out and finish him.
“This is just the one they presented. I’ve been training for a long time. I was actually hoping to fight sooner, like in September. It didn’t materialize, so I was just very happy that somebody stepped up. Of course it’s a huge opportunity for Jairzinho, but it’s going to be a good fight.”
Alistair Overeem lays out retirement timeline, but career 'would not be complete without UFC gold'
