D. Herbertson/Sherdog.com
Who can make sense of Alistair Overeem’s career? After packing on 30 lbs. in the past two years, fans fawning over his puffed, exaggerated frame, he’s rattled off a bunch of semi-quality wins in both MMA and kickboxing. None of them were against particularly qualified opponents, and the one that was -- a KO over Badr Hari -- came three weeks after Hari had three fights in a K-1 Grand Prix.
Overeem hasn’t fought in the states since November 2007. No one really knows what that new body can do against a top-ten opponent in a mixed-style setting.
Now Overeem, per HeadKickLegend.com, wants a rematch with Badr, but this time in MMA. Hari is likely to decline, just as he did when Overeem floated the same idea earlier in the year. (A man with 42 pro fights in MMA would seem to be an unnecessary risk for Hari’s 0-1 mark, regardless of their results in a neighboring sport.)
What’s the endgame here? Overeem is a good striker with increasing power and a better-than-average submission game -- including a guillotine that put away some talented fighters -- but we have no idea how that flank steak of a body is going to survive three rounds or more of mixed-style fighting.
Hari or not, Overeem will likely cash a nice payday on New Year’s. It just doesn’t seem to be in the service of anything. He’s become more renowned for a body than a body of work.