Combat sports legend Alistair Overeem recently sat down in an interview and shared that he is planning to retire from MMA and kickboxing. The Dutch-born combat sports legend has had a professional career going back as far as 1999.
Skinny Alistair Overeem
Just a few weeks ago, a slimmed-down ‘Dutch Demolition Man‘ posed in the RIZIN ring. Fans remarked on how skinny the heavyweight Overeem appeared to be. In a recent podcast of Lovin Dubai, the 43-year-old athlete discussed recent diet changes. Overeem explained:
“I’ve been doing a lot of new things for health. Meat is not good for you. I became a vegetarian also. I got no desire to eat meat anymore. It negatively affects you. Yes, it tastes delicious. Even now, I could still eat meat, but I just choose not to.”
“I started doing detoxing. I have this special nutritionist, Julian VanHoven. He’s in Germany and South America, so our sessions go through Skype. And, I started taking these supplements in a reasonably high dosage which you can just do on an empty stomach, and, after a couple of weeks, my diet, my appetite changed. I would usually eat steak at eight o’clock in the morning. That was like a standard thing, and then, I’m like, ‘I’m full. I don’t want to eat this anymore.'” (Transcript credit Bloody Elbow & Middle Easy)
Alistair Overeem Retiring?
During the podcast interview, Overeem announced, in a very nonchalant way, that he was done with combat sports. The 43-year-old athlete explained:
“This actually ties into what I want to do, because I actually just decided to stop fighting. This is not my thing anymore … It’s been 25 years, right? We’re going to do other cool stuff now.” (Transcript credit Bloody Elbow)
Alistair Overeem has had one of the most decorated and impressive careers in combat sports history. Between MMA and Kickboxing, the Dutch “Demolition Man” has earned gold in DREAM, K-1 Kickboxing, Strikeforce, and others. Additionally, he fought under the UFC and PRIDE FC banners.
Throughout his lengthy career, between two weight divisions, Overeem fought nearly everyone. This includes Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Peter Aerts, Sergei Pavlovich, Chuck Liddell, Mark Hunt, Gokhan Saki, Fabrício Werdum, Francis Ngannou, Andrei Arlovski, Vitor Belfort, Junior dos Santos, and Brock Lesnar, among many others.
Most recently, Overeem finished his trilogy against kickboxing legend Badr Hari in GLORY Kickboxing. It was originally a decision win for Overeem, but it was changed to a no contest, because he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Despite the suspension and retirement, the Dutch athlete has been teasing a return to action in RIZIN FF and ONE Championship. Regardless of what the 43-year-old fighter decides to do, he can confidently hang up his gloves knowing it was a legendary career.
In an interview with Tim Wheaton of Beyond Kickboxing, Overeem reflected on his career. He said:
“We all have our stars we look up to, our role models. Even I had role models, I’ve even fought a couple of role models. That’s pretty amazing when that happens when you hear that, knowing that I’m a role model. Just humbled, also proud of the accomplishments. It makes me realize that we’re not going to be fighting for too long. It really is the last little stretch. And again, enjoying it. Happy I’m here. We’re going out on a blast.”