Alistair Overeem is set to headline UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam, Holland on May 8th in a major heavyweight clash with Andrei Arlovski.
Fresh from signing a new deal with the UFC, Overeem was the obvious choice to front their first ever event in his native Holland.
The 35 year-old is enjoying a resurgence at the moment, with three victories in a row against Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson and Junior dos Santos leaving him on the cusp of title contention at No.3 on the official heavyweight rankings.
Not so long ago Arlovski was enjoying a four-fight unbeaten stretch of his own, but that came to an end at the turn of the year when he was TKO’d in less than a minute by Stipe Miocic, dampening the 37 year-old’s own title ambitions for the time being.
Arlovski still remains ranked at No.5 in the division however, so a win over Overeem could yet put him right back into the mix.
Adding a little extra spice to this match-up is the fact that Overeem and Arlovski are training partners at Jackson’s MMA. In the past we’ve seen head coach Greg Jackson back away from cornering duties when teammates are competing against each other, but interestingly that will not be the case this time around.
“Usually I would step out, but Andrei is a special case,” Jackson told MMAjunkie.com in a move that’s surely going to lead to unwanted tension in the gym over the course of the next few months.
