What is Alistair Overeem's Net Worth?
Alistair Overeem is a professional heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer who has a net worth of $10 million. Alistair Overeem competes in the heavyweight division of Glory. Previously, he was a Heavyweight Champion in the MMA promotions Strikeforce and Dream, and a World Grand Prix champion in K-1. Among his many achievements, Overeem became the first fighter to simultaneously hold world titles in MMA and K-1.
Early Life
Alistair Overeem was born on May 17, 1980 in London, England to a Dutch mother and a Jamaican father. After his parents divorced when he was six, he moved with his mother and older brother Valentijn to the Netherlands. There, Overeem began martial arts training to defend himself from bullying. Following his brother, he decided to pursue an athletic career, starting out in judo before getting involved in track and field and basketball. When he was 15, Overeem joined the martial arts gym of Chris Dolman to become a professional fighter.
Mixed Martial Arts
Overeem had his first professional MMA fight when he was 19, beating Ricardo Fyeet by submission in the inaugural event of "It's Showtime." He continued on in the promotions Fighting Network Rings, M-1, and 2 Hot 2 Handle, amassing a 10-3 record. In the summer of 2002, Overeem made his debut in the Pride Fighting Championships and defeated Yusuke Imamura via TKO. He won two more fights in Pride before losing to Chuck Liddell in the quarterfinal match of the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. Later that year, Overeem beat Tomohiko Hashimoto in 36 seconds at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye. On Halloween in 2004, he defeated Hiromitsu Kanehara via TKO at Pride 28. The following year, Overeem beat Vitor Belfort and Igor Vovchanchyn in the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, but fell in the semifinals to Maurício Rua. In early 2006, he beat Sergei Kharitonov to secure a spot in the Pride Openweight Grand Prix, where he lost in the second round to Fabrício Werdum. That summer, Overeem made his debut in Strikeforce. Returning to Pride, he lost to Antônio Rogério Nogueira and Ricardo Arona. Overeem fared better starting in mid-2007, when he beat Michael Knaap via submission at the K-1 Grand Prix. In November, he beat Paul Buentello for the vacant Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship.
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In mid-2008, Overeem defeated Lee Tae-Hyun via KO at Dream 4. He followed that by defeating Mark Hunt via submission at Dream 5. At Dream 6 in September, Overeem took on Mirko Cro Cop in a no-contest bout. After several delays, he made his first defense of his Strikeforce Heavyweight title against Brett Rogers in 2010, winning via TKO. On New Year's Eve that year, Overeem won the interim Dream Heavyweight Championship by knocking out Todd Duffee. In 2011, he was removed from Strikeforce, causing him to sign a contract with the UFC. Following some controversy regarding his drug test, Overeem made his UFC debut at UFC 141 against Brock Lesnar, and won. However, he failed a later drug test prior to UFC 146. Overeem returned in early 2013 to face Antônio Silva at UFC 156, and lost. He went on to lose to Travis Browne and win over Frank Mir. In 2014, Overeem lost to Ben Rothwell before beating Stefan Struve. The next year, he defeated Roy Nelson and Junior dos Santos. Overeem faced Stipe Miocic for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 2016, but lost in the first round. He continued to fight in the UFC until March of 2021, whereupon he was released from his contract.
Kickboxing Career
Overeem had his first professional kickboxing fight in late 1997, which he won. He eventually moved on to K-1, but after being knocked out by Errol Parris and Glaube Feitosa, decided to take a break and focus on his MMA career. Overeem returned to K-1 four years later. Overeem had one of his most memorable K-1 successes at the World Grand Prix in 2009, where he delivered a massive upset by beating three-time champion Peter Aerts by unanimous decision in the Final 16. He went even further the next year, beating Aerts in the finals to win the 2010 World Grand Prix title.
After more than a decade away from kickboxing, Overeem returned in late 2021 to fight with the Glory promotion. He was scheduled to challenge the reigning Glory Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven that October, but had to withdraw due to an injury. A year later, Overeem faced Badr Hari, whom he defeated by unanimous decision. However, the month after that, it was revealed that Overeem had tested positive for a banned substance, turning the decision from his previous fight into a no-contest ruling.
Personal Life
With his fiancée, Overeem has two daughters; he also has a daughter from a prior relationship.
