Alistair Overeem in talks with ONE Championship, eyeing Openweight Muay Thai Grand Prix
Alistair Overeem is rumored to be in talks with ONE Championship. ONE has recently announced a 16-man Muay Thai Openweight Grand Prix with a $1 Million prize. Apparently, the Dutch-born Overeem is interested.
After splitting with the UFC, ‘The Dutch Demolition Man’ defeated his long-time rival Badr Hari in GLORY Kickboxing in late 2022. Overeem was then looking at facing the GLORY Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven but the Dutch athlete tested positive for a banned substance.
According to ONE’s CEO Chatri Sityodtong, the Openweight Grand Prix will feature fighters such as Rodtang (135 lbs) and Superbon (155 lbs). ONE’s promotional poster for the tournament already features a picture of Overeem (240 lbs). The poster also has the kickboxing light heavyweight world champion Roman Kryklia (230 lbs) and the Muay Thai strawweight world champion Joseph Lasiri (125 lbs).
The rumor of Alistair Overeem looking to compete in the Muay Thai Openweight Grand Prix was first reported by Nicolas Atkin of SCMP MMA.
What’s left for Alistair Overeem?
Alistair Overeem has had a storied career in combat sports. Since making his professional debut in 1999, he has competed in PRIDE FC, the UFC, K-1 Kickboxing, DREAM, Strikeforce, and GLORY Kickboxing, among others. After nearly 80 bouts between kickboxing and MMA, what’s left for ‘The Dutch Demolition Man’?
Last year, Overeem sat down with Tim Wheaton of Beyond Kickboxing to map out his future. The 42-year-old fighter explained that he would like one last bout to say goodbye to MMA. He said:
“There might be another opportunity to do another MMA fight. Because MMA requires a good farewell as well … I do have a particular scenario in mind, it would be a big stadium, like fifty-thousand people. So that’ll narrow it down for you; what stadium and where. It’ll be something along those lines that I’ve envisioned for myself.”
Between K-1 and PRIDE, Alistair Overeem fought in Japan’s Saitama Super Arena in a dozen bouts, and it sounds like he is looking for one more.
