After being released from his UFC contract recently, Alistair Overeem has opted not to retire, and instead is returning to kickboxing with the announcement of a multi-fight deal with Glory.
“We are extremely excited for Alistair Overeem to join GLORY,” GLORY chairman Pierre Andurand said in a statement. “Alistair is one of the most well-rounded and decorated heavyweight fighters of all time. Today marks a historic day for the sport, and most importantly for GLORY fans, with upcoming exciting fights that everyone will want to see.”
The 41-year-old is no stranger to kickboxing as he was simultaneously appearing competing for K-1 as well as MMA promotions like PRIDE, Strikeforce and DREAM over the years.
Along the way, Overeem picked up wins over the likes of Badr Hari and Peter Aerts, before eventually winning the K-1 World Grand-Prix in 2010 after beating Tyron Spong, Gokhan Saki and Peter Aerts in a single night.
That was a high note in Overeem’s career since at the time he was also the DREAM and Strikeforce champion in MMA.
However, a year later Overeem signed for the UFC and for the past decade he had fought exclusively for them, but while he had a number of big wins over that period, the UFC heavyweight title always eluded him.
In the end, Overeem’s UFC run concluded with a TKO loss against Alexander Volkov, leaving him with an overall 12-8 record in the promotion, and now he’ll look to improve upon his 10-4 run in kickboxing.
