Alistair Overeem was facing a lot of doubt going into fight week for UFC Vegas 9. With his long career in combat sports, there were those thinking that the end was near or that Overeem is still a contending force of nature in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Overeem proved the latter is true.
The fight with Augusto Sakai took longer than fans are used to seeing an Overeem win go. Sakai also having a striking background seemed to help the fight go into the final round but the ground game would be the difference for Overeem. Overeem said afterward in the post-fight press conference that he was trying to go for a submission, but “I kind of saw that the damage was substantial with the ground and pound so I was like ‘Oh, it’s working let’s just stick to this.’”
Overeem has not been shy about believing he has another title run left in him but he also does acknowledge that there will have to be an end eventually. Still, after his most recent win, he has more than enough reasons to keep fighting. When asked what they were, Overeem said his reasons are, “Obviously I love the sport right? I’ve dedicated my entire life to it. Basically training for 29 years competing for 23, first fight being in 1997. I love the game, I guess I’m good at it.”
Overeem also added, “I don’t like the ‘nine to five’. It’s been a long time that I did a ‘nine to five’ but I just really love the game and there’s also the time issue right? I can still do it now.” He believes if he takes a break he would just have to stop but for now, he is “still loving it.” For now, Overeem will look forward to fighting but ponder when to hang up the gloves in a “case by case” or in Overeem’s case, fight-by-fight basis.
When Overeem asked if he would put a timeline for the remainder of his career, he said, “Probably one or two more years, maybe three. We’ll see.” In the meantime, Overeem is ranked number five in the UFC heavyweight rankings making him a contender not to look past.
