Alistair Overeem revealed earlier today that he has re-signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and that he will be headlining the UFC Rotterdam card in March.
The announcement comes after months of speculation on who, one of MMA’s most prevalent heavyweight names, would sign with upon his declaration that he would be following in the footsteps of former UFC fighters like Benson Henderson, Phil Davis, and Josh Koscheck, in testing the free agency market.
With other MMA organizations such as; Bellator, One FC, and more recently Rizin, gaining traction over the last few years, the market for fighters to seek their real value has much improved.
Overeem, who holds a 5-3 record in the UFC and is presently ranked as the #3 heavyweight by UFC.com, opted to fight out his previous contract, ending his current stint on a three-fight win streak in which he earned victories over Roy Nelson, Stefan Struve, and most recently a high profile knockout of former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos.
“Alistair Overeem Re-signs With UFC, Headlines Rotterdam Card”
The “Reem” parlayed the news via his Twitter account, while also revealing that he will be headlining the UFC’s March 24. Show in Rotterdam.
Just signed my new @ufc contract! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/lUQZO0ptLJ
— Alistair Overeem (@Alistairovereem) February 15, 2016
And yes, I will be headlining UFC Rotterdam! pic.twitter.com/FRyH7VMyYc
— Alistair Overeem (@Alistairovereem) February 15, 2016
Much hype was placed upon Overeem, a former K1 and Strikeforce heavyweight champion, when he first entered the UFC in 2009. After disposing of former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, the Dutch native was schedule to face, then heavyweight champion Junior Dos Anjos, but would fail a pre-fight drug test, and subsequently suffer knockout losses to Travis Browne and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in his next two fights.
However, following a recent career resurgence and a stagnant heavyweight division riddled with injuries- one that has only seen one undisputed title fight since 2013 – Overeem has arguably thrust himself, along with fellow contender Stipe Miocic, back into title contention and given the present state of limbo the division has found itself in due to injuries suffered by the current champion and #1 contender, in Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez, postponing their title fight, it only makes sense the Overeem and Miocic headline the Rotterdam card to establish a clear cut #1 contender to the winner of Werdum vs. Velasquez.
At 35, the window for Overeem to get that elusive title shot that has evaded him since landing in the UFC is closing, and a win over Miocic would all but guarantee he finally gets it.
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