Currently on suspension after failing a drug test while competing for top kickboxing promotion GLORY, former Strikeforce heavyweight champion and UFC contender Alistair Overeem has revealed that he has once again retired.
Overeem (47-19, 1NC MMA) broke the news while speaking on TV program Lovin Dubai, where he shed some light into a recent body transformation that has the previously massive heavyweight walking around much lighter.
According to “The Reem” (or the “Demolition Man,” if you prefer), the sudden change in physique comes down to switching to a vegetarian diet. Then, among talk of cutting out steak and eggs for breakfast — “that was like a standard thing” — and being infected with parasites that drove his desire for meat (“it’s not me who needs meat, it’s the parasites that influenced me”), he casually let slip that he was done actively competing.
“This actually ties into what I want to do. I actually just decided to stop fighting, it’s not my thing anymore,” said Overeem. “It’s been 25 years, we’re going to do other cool stuff now. I just acquired shares of the Fit Fair, it’s going to be a health expo. This is what I like, health. Not [bio] hacking, hacking is a trick. Health.”
Overeem saw his win over Badr Hari overturned to a No Contest this past March after failing a drug test. At the time, GLORY officials told Cageside Press that “Alistair Overeem has been removed from the GLORY rankings and his fight again Badr Hari is ruled a ‘No Contest’ due to a violation of GLORY’s anti-doping rules.”
It was not Alistrair Overeem’s first failed drug test. While in the UFC, Overeem failed to provide sufficient drug testing samples prior to his debut fight against Brock Lesnar in late 2011, and later left the country — resulting in the Nevada Athletic Commission granting him a provisional license to compete.
In the months following the bout, Overeem was found to have a 14-to-1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone (t/e) ratio, more than twice the permitted limit in Nevada. He was pulled from a fight with Junior Dos Santos, and suspended nine months.
The Dutch heavyweight, who previously competed for PRIDE and K-1, fought for the UFC heavyweight championship in 2016, losing to Stipe Miocic. He would float around the title scene for years after, never reaching a title fight again and losing to the likes of Francis Ngannou and Jair Rozenstruik in memorable, violent stoppages.
Overeem was released from his UFC contract in 2021 off a loss to Alexander Volkov, a move likely as much about his six figure salary than anything else.
Among Overeem’s accomplishments are his Srikeforce and DREAM titles in MMA, winning a K-1 grand prix in 2010, and wins over Brock Lesnar, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Roy “Big Country” Nelson, Frank Mir, Junior Dos Santos, Mark Hunt, Vitor Belfort, and current contender Sergei Pavlovich, among others.
Overeem has hinted at retirement before, and the topic has followed him for at least a decade. In 2021, following his UFC release, he appeared to have retired, only to do an about-face and sign with GLORY.
