Curtis Blaydes gets his toughest test yet as he faces Alistair Overeem at UFC 225 this June in Chicago.
A rumored bout between Curtis Blaydes and Alistair Overeem has been made official for UFC 225 in Chicago. UFC officials announced Wednesday that Blaydes vs. Overeem was a go, putting an end to weeks of speculation. Blaydes will have the home town advantage in the fight, which is expected to be part of the UFC 225 main card on PPV.
Blaydes (9–1 (1)) is currently on a three fight win streak in the UFC. Crucially, that win streak has come against increasingly talented opposition. After winning a unanimous decision against Daniel Omielańczuk at UFC 213, Blayes wound up with a controversial doctor’s stoppage TKO at UFC 217 against Oleksiy Oliynyk. An illegal kick that grazed Oliynyk was the source of some uproar, but ultimately it was ruled that the kick did not cause the damage that eventually ended the fight.
Last time out, at UFC 221 in Perth, Australia, Blaydes took on Mark Hunt — grappling and grinding his way to a three-round unanimous decision. Most impressive was how Blaydes absolutely ragdolled the ‘Super Samoan’ — suplexing the Pride and UFC veteran numerous times.
Alistair Overeem (43–16 (1)), unlike Blaydes, was not on the winning end of his last fight. He wasn’t even on the same plane of consciousness as the rest of us come the end of it, as Francis Ngannou separated him from reality with a crushing uppercut. It was one of the most talked about knockouts in years, and earned Ngannou a title shot against champ Stipe Miocic. Overeem, meanwhile, will once again look to rebuild. A veteran of nearly 60 fights in MMA, Overeem came up short in his only crack at the UFC heavyweight championship, against Miocic back at UFC 203. He’s 2-1 since then, with wins over Mark Hunt and Fabricio Werdum coming before the Ngannou loss.
UFC 225 takes place at the United Center in Chicago on June 9.
