Alistair Overeem is a known English Kickboxer and a mixed martial artist who holds both MMA title and K-1 title at the same moment. He is a known as „The Reem“ AND „The Demolition Man.“
Early years
He was born as Alistair Cees Overeem on May 17, 1980, in Hounslow in England. His father descended from Jamaica, and his mother was Dutch. They had marital problems from the beginning, so they divorce when he was just six years old.
This caused their relocation to the Netherlands, his mother’s country of birth. She took him and his older brother Valentijn back to her home.
Overeem was interested in many sports as a young kid.
He trained judo, basketball, and track and was one of the fastest athletes in school.
He was a young teenager, aged 15 years when Valentijn took him to an MMA Gym because he wanted to learn his younger brother to defend himself.
He wasn’t overwhelmed with the sport, but he changed his mind after he was introduced to known Dutch former MMA artists Bas Rutten and Joop Kasteel.
He realized how kickboxing is a very attractive sport and full of adrenaline, so he got interested in the MMA and kickboxing world.
He started his training in kickboxing and Muay Thai the same year, and his brother witnessed his great learning skills, so he continued motivating him for sports.
Career development
He was 19 years old when his first MMA fight as a professional fighter assured. He defeated Ricardo Fyeet, a known Dutch professional kickboxing fighter who is also an ex MMA artist.
After that, he continued to fight in Its Showtime, M-1, 2 Hot to Handle and other big MMA promotions.
He defeated Yusuke Imamura at the Pride Fighting Championships in 2002. Yusuke is one of the greatest fighters.
He entered at 2003 Pride Total Elimination Series where he was defeated by Chuck Liddell in the quarterfinals. It was a big disappointment for him, but after a while, he realized that this experiences make him a better fighter and will help him achieve his goal.
He defeated Zomohiko Mashimoto in 2003 in a little over 30 seconds. It was one of the shortest fights in his career.
He defeated Hiromitsu Kanehara by technical knockout in 2004 at Pride 28 Championship based in Japan.
In 2005 he was defeated by Victor Belfort in Pride Total Elimination. After that, he won a match against Igor Vovchanchyn but finally lost semifinals to Mauricio Rua.
After defeating Sergei Kharitonov, a Top Team fighter, in 2006 he joined the Pride Total Elimination Absolute. Fabricio Werdum defeated him in the 2nd round.
He rematched Vitor Belfort at Strikeforce in San Jose and won the fight.
At Pride 33, he lost again to Mauricio Rua who gave him a knock-out. It was in 2007.
In 2008 he made a great comeback by defeating a K-1 World Grand Prix Champ called Mark Hunt.
He succeeded to do it in the 1st round. He became known for his fast technical knock-outs.
In 2008 he fought against Mirk Cro Cop and although he was in the better position the fight was declared as a no contest since Overeem kept hitting the Croatian fighter to the grain. The judge didn’t tolerate it.
In 2010, he won a match against Brett Rogers at Strikeforce to defend his title. He did it again by TKO.
He also defeated Todd Duffee, an American MMA fighter at Dynamite!! 2010.
He defeated Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce in 2011. The winning was achieved by the unanimous decision of the judges.
In 2011 he signed the contract with UFC. His first fight was against Brock Lesnar, and he won in the 1st round.
He failed a drug test done by NSAC in 2012. NSAC stands for Nevada State Athletic Commission, an organization which controls the possible consumption of illegal substances in sport. He was banned from fighting for nine months. He appealed this decision, but the Commission discarded it.
He returned fighting in 2013 when he faced Antonio Silva, but he lost in the 3rd round.
He succeeded in defeating Frank Mir at the end of 2013 at UFC 167. He injured an elbow and passed almost all 2014 fights.
He defeated both Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson in 2015.
In 2016, he signed his new contract with UFC. He won Andrei Arlovski at UFC 87, by TKO. He was defeated by Stipe Miočić at UFC 203 at the end of 2013. Stipe is a known Croatian fighter.
In 2017 he won matches against Mark Hunt and Fabricio Werdum but lost from Francis Ngannou by TKO.
He won 41 of his 58 MMA fights. He has better average in kickboxing: he won ten out of fourteen fights.
Personal life:
He is married to Zelina Angela Bexander who graduated from University of Gothenburg and is currently working in AkzoNobel as a Management Assistant.
He has two daughters: Storm who was born in 2006 and Yazz-ley Rey born in 2016.
His first daughter Storm comes from his relationship with an unknown woman in the past.
Overeem was arrested by Las Vegas Police after he shoves one woman in the face. He received a three months prison sentence plus anger management therapy. He also had to do 50 hours of community service so his charges can be dropped.
Quick summary
Full name: Alistair Cees Overeem
Date of birth: May 17, 1980
Birthplace: Hounslow in England
Age: 38
Profession: kickboxer, mixed martial artist
Height: 192 cm
Weight: 112 kg
Net Worth: $6 million
