Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Heavyweights

10. Alistair Overeem

Overeem is the only fighter on this list never to have been undisputed champion in Ultimate Fighting Championship or Pride Fighting Championships. And as much as I love the Dutchman, he wasn't my own pick for this spot—that would be Mark Coleman—and one could also make a strong case for Mirko Filipovic. Yet it's hard not to see why Overeem appeared on so many lists despite the lack of a championship. He had a bunch of great wins over 14 years at heavyweight and on the right night, could beat anyone with his thunderous muay thai striking and hellacious ground-and-pound. His list of victims includes Igor Vovchanchyn (technically at light heavyweight), Sergei Kharitonov, Mark Hunt (twice), Fabricio Werdum twice (very controversially in their second meeting), Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski and even Sergey Pavlovich as recently as late 2018.

Unfortunately, “The Reem” also suffered a slew of losses, including to a few of those same opponents, such as Kharitonov who stopped him in their rematch, being submitted by Werdum in their first meeting, or even bad defeats in his prime to heavyweights we don't consider anywhere close to being all-time great, like being knocked out in the first round by Ben Rothwell and Travis Browne. Overeem's chin was always a little shaky, but so too were many of his performances, with many featuring lapses in defense or over-straining his gas tank. I believe Overeem shored up these latter two weaknesses later in his career, but alas, it occurred as his physical gifts were declining from both age and an absurd amount of absorbed punishment. Nevertheless, none of the heavyweights ahead of him on this list would feel confident facing a prime Overeem on a good night.

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