‘The Demolition Man’ Alistair Overeem will return to action this weekend to fight Russian heavyweight Alexander Volkov in a Fight Night main event. The Dutch fighter is a true legend of the game with his accolades speaking for themselves. He has an incredible professional record of 47-18-1, fighting across top promotions around the world.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

In a throwback video on Twitter, Overeem and his grandmother can be seen sharing an emotional moment ahead of the former’s proposed UFC 146 fight against fellow legend Junior Dos Santos.

I am very happy for him that he succeeds. But I am not proud of him,” she said in Dutch, “I don’t think it’s good to earn a lot of money by knocking someone out cold. I can’t totally agree with that,” added Overeem’s grandmother.

ADVERTISEMENT

No, because he is too sweet for that (fighting). I saw you and your brother a lot when you were small. Last week I was looking at you from the corner of the room. And thought back about the old days. When you and your brother were running around. It’s a huge difference. So I will miss you very dearly.”

Alistair’s brother Valentijn is also an MMA fighter. Though his career wasn’t as decorated as his brother, he has notable wins over the likes of Renato Sobral, Randy Couture, Ray Sefo, and more.

ADVERTISEMENT

Overeem’s fight against Dos Santos ultimately fell apart as he failed a random drug test during the UFC 146 press conference. The Brazilian Dos Santos eventually fought Frank Mir instead.

Alistair Overeem is on one final run at the title

Overeem is one of the most decorated fighters to have ever graced the UFC Octagon. He is a former Strikeforce, K-1 Grand Prix, and Dream heavyweight champion. ‘The Demolition Man’ has written in his name in the history books wherever he has competed.

ADVERTISEMENT

ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA – APRIL 19, 2019: Dutch MMA fighter Alistair Overeem during a weigh-in before his fight against Alexei Oleinik (not in picture) at UFC Fight Night 149 in Yubileiny Sports Centre. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by Valery SharifulinTASS via Getty Images)

The only prize that has eluded him in his illustrious career is the UFC gold. ‘The Demolition Man‘ got his shot at the throne at UFC 203 against Stipe Miocic, but couldn’t come out triumphant. Despite being 40, he has won 4 out of his last 5 and will look to continue his impressive run this weekend against Volkov.

ADVERTISEMENT

What did you make of the candid moment shared between Overeem and his grandmother? Can the Dutch eventually fulfill his dreams of becoming a UFC champion?

ADVERTISEMENT

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

Written by

author-image

Apratim Banerjee

1,260 Articles

Apratim Banerjee is a senior UFC author for EssentiallySports and has been writing professionally for almost a year. Before his current gig, Apratim worked as a UFC writer for Sportskeeda. A long-time MMA fan, Apratim has developed a critical eye for the sport that has helped him transfer his vast knowledge to his copies and give hardcore and casual readers a detailed insight into the fights and fighters. Dan Henderson’s brutal knockout against Michael Bisping at UFC 100 in 2009 is one of his earliest memories of the sport. He has never missed a UFC PPV or a Fight Night since, which speaks volumes about his wealth of MMA knowledge. Israel Adesanya, Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, Conor McGregor are some of his favorite fighters. Apart from this, Apratim plays soccer in his free time and loves scoring long-distance goals.

Know more