Alistair Overeem

Alistair Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer.

He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and was the first fighter to hold world titles in MMA and K-1 kickboxing at the same time.

Overeem is also a one-time challenger for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Overeem was born in Hounslow, London, England, to a Jamaican father and a Dutch mother, whose family tree connects him to King William III of the Netherlands.

When he was six years old, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother and older brother to the Netherlands.

As a child, Overeem started training martial arts with his older brother Valentijn in order to defend himself from bullying.

He decided to pursue a competitive sports career by his brother's example, first in Judo and later Track and Field and Basketball.

At the age of 15, he followed Valentijn into Chris Dolman's Martial Arts gym to become a professional fighter.

Alistair initially did not like the sport, as he was routinely beaten by more experienced students, but he changed his mind when he met Bas Rutten and Joop Kasteel, after which he fully dedicated himself to training.

Overeem had his first MMA professional fight at 19 years old, defeating Ricardo Fyeet by submission on October 24, 1999 at It's Showtime, the first event of the eponymously named promotion.

After posting a 10–3 record in Fighting Network Rings, M-1, It's Showtime, and 2 Hot 2 Handle, Overeem debuted in the Pride Fighting Championships on 20 July 2002, defeating Yusuke Imamura by TKO in 44 seconds.

Overeem won two more fights in Pride before entering the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix at Pride Total Elimination 2003 and losing to future UFC Light heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell in the quarterfinal match.

Overeem rebounded to defeat Tomohiko Hashimoto at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 in 36 seconds.

On 31 October 2004, Overeem fought Hiromitsu Kanehara, defeating him by TKO in the second round at Pride 28.

Overeem lost his next fight against Brazilian Top Team fighter Antônio Rogério Nogueira.

In 2005, Overeem entered the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix at Pride Total Elimination 2005, in which he defeated UFC Light heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort by submission in the opening round.

Overeem moved on to fight Igor Vovchanchyn in the quarterfinals at Pride Critical Countdown 2005 and won via submission in under two minutes.

Overeem lost in the semifinals to the eventual champion Maurício Rua.

In February 2006, Overeem fought Russian Top Team favourite Sergei Kharitonov.

Overeem won, dislocating Kharitonov's shoulder in the process.

With his win over Kharitonov, Overeem secured a spot in the Pride 2006 Openweight Grand Prix at Pride Total Elimination Absolute.

He fought Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Fabrício Werdum, and lost via kimura in the second round.

On 9 June 2006, Overeem travelled to San Jose, California, to win a rematch with Vitor Belfort by decision at Strikeforce: Revenge.

A month later Overeem returned to Pride for a highly anticipated rematch with Antônio Rogério Nogueira.

Overeem entered the fight with a heavily taped neck.

After controlling the first round and a half with his striking, Overeem was stumbled from a punch, and Nogueira followed with a flurry of strikes.

Worried Overeem would be more severely injured, his corner threw in the towel.

At Pride Final Conflict Absolute, Overeem lost to Ricardo Arona.

Overeem was on the receiving end of a leg kick that caused a non-serious injury to his nerves, causing him to lose feeling in his foot and leg.

Unable to mount much offence or defend against Arona, Overeem tapped out to avoid further injury.

He then suffered another KO loss to Maurício Rua at Pride 33, but returned in June 2007 with a submission win over Michael Knaap at K-1 Grand Prix in Amsterdam (despite K-1 being a kickboxing promotion, the bout was fought under MMA rules).

On 17 September 2007, at the Hero's 10: Middleweight Tournament Final, Alistair faced Sergei Kharitonov again.

Overeem showed solid movement as soon as the first round began, but he suffered a KO loss just before the end of the first round.

On 16 November 2007, Overeem defeated Paul Buentello for the vacant Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship by submission due to knee strikes.

On 15 June 2008 Overeem won by KO in the first round against Lee Tae-Hyun at DREAM 4.

On 21 July 2008, Overeem defeated K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Mark Hunt in the first round by submission at Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round.

His next fight was against Mirko Cro Cop at Dream 6 on 23 September 2008.

The bout was stopped about halfway through the first round and declared a no-contest, after Overeem landed multiple knees to the groin of Cro Cop.

Overeem was rumoured to be making his first title defence against Brett Rogers on 6 June at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields.

However, a hand injury scuttled plans for the fight.