Alistair Overeem has opened up on his planned move into boxing, as he eyes a fight with distant rival Rico Verhoeven.
Overeem, a former kickboxing champion and ex-UFC title challenger, has not fought professionally since 2022, but at the age of 46 he is eyeing a fresh venture.
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After working on punditry duties for Verhoeven’s boxing match with Oleksandr Usyk in May, Overeem has made clear his desire to box his fellow Dutchman – whom he was twice meant to face in kickboxing.
Alistair Overeem was a fan favourite in the UFC after his career as a champion kickboxer (Getty)
“It truly is a different, magnificent world,” Overeem told The Independent of his experience at Usyk vs Verhoeven, a world heavyweight title fight in which Verhoeven was controversially stopped late on after seemingly leading the unbeaten great.
“I also understand you shouldn’t just go in there and ‘blah blah blah’, talk too much; let me just first observe it. The commentary gig gave me unique insight. The whole thing energised me.
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“Rico did great, and I was like: ‘Hey, this is a guy I still have a score to settle with. Can’t let him get away.’
“Rico is the guy that came after me, but didn’t really do it, because Glory [Kickboxing] was not big enough and the landscape kind of changed. He also didn’t have the MMA [mixed martial arts] pedigree, so he couldn’t jump ship. Nonetheless, he did a good job in kickboxing – lacking some of the knockouts, though.
“So, big guy, great cardio, but a lot of decision wins, so people kind of look at it like he’s like a little bit of a boring heavyweight, even though I could always see the the technical ability.
“He’s either he’s going to accept or he’s not going to accept, and then he’s going to lose face.”
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Talking up the prospect of facing Verhoeven, 37, Overeem said: “It’s amazing how many people stop me in the street [in the Netherlands] and are like: ‘Hey, when is the Rico fight?’
“So, it is moving people exactly how I thought it would. In the Netherlands, it is the fight to make; it is going to be the biggest fight in the Netherlands, period.
Rico Verhoeven protesting the stoppage of his fight with Oleksandr Usyk (Getty)
“I’m talking to the team, and they’re talking about Amsterdam Arena, soccer stadium, 60,000 [people]. They’re going all-out.”
And explaining his desire to box, rather than return to MMA or kickboxing, Overeem added: “Kickboxing platforms have been gone for a long time, with all due respect to the promoters and the fighters. I mean, we all want kickboxing to be there, but it’s not the same as K1 was. And then you have the UFC, but I don’t know.
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“A friend of mine, he already was taking me to boxing gyms, so I’m hitting mitts – and I’m actually pretty good at this, and I enjoy it. Never before did I really look into the boxing world to participate, but it’s a beautiful stage.
“It was not a thought-out plan 10 years in the making. My body gave out, but I never stopped training, I never retired. I was just trying to get my body back online.
Overeem celebrates a UFC victory over Augusto Sakai in 2020 (Getty)
“I dove into longevity, learned so much. I don’t know… call me a biohacker, call me a longevity guru, but the thirst came back – also, the body came back. You can actually age in reverse, you can get younger, so that’s what I did,” he claimed.
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“But you also have to respect the cumulative damage. I’ve been fighting for 25 years, training for longer. I said, ‘I will make a comeback only if I can guarantee the best version of myself.’
“That best version is needed to beat Rico. If you’re going to jump in there and you’re not fit, you’re going to get slaughtered, and you don’t want that.”
