Walt Harris will have a chance to punch his ticket to the top of the heavyweight division when he faces Alistrair Overeem in the UFC DC main event this December.
The UFC on ESPN 7 card continues to take shape — and now, it appears the Washington show has its main event. Tuesday, ESPN was first to report that agreements were in place for Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris to throw down in the UFC DC main event. The news has not yet been announced by the promotion.
Harris (13–7 (1)) has been on a roll so far in 2019, picking up a pair of stoppage wins in the octagon. In May, he battered Sergey Spivak at UFC Ottawa, then moved on to UFC San Antonio in July, where he knocked out Aleksei Oleinik. Oleinik had originally been scheduled to face Harris in Ottawa, but had been moved to face Alistair Overeem at UFC St. Petersburg.
Which brings us to Overeem, who is one of the most storied heavyweights in the sport to have not won a UFC championship. A DREAM, K-1, and Strikeforce champ in years gone by, ‘The Reem’ has had his ups and downs under the UFC banner since joining the promotion in 2011.
A title challenge against Stipe Miocic in 2016 saw Overeem knocked out just prior to the end of the first round at UFC 203. Since then, Overeem has gone 4-2 in the heavyweight division. The low point was likely the knockout of the year loss to Francis Ngannou in 2017, which was followed by a second loss to Curtis Blaydes.
However, Overeem has turned things around of late, defeating Sergei Pavlovich and Oleinik in his last two outings, both via TKO.
UFC DC, a.k.a. UFC on ESPN 7, takes place December 7 at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C. Stefan Struve will meet Ben Rothwell earlier in the night, in another exciting heavyweight match-up on the card.
