Overeem entered the 1999 RINGS King of Kings tournament and battled Russian Top Team member Iouri Kotchkine for the first time (they met again in RINGS Russia). Kotchkine was able to control him on the feet with strikes and on the ground with wrestling to take a decisive decision victory.
Alistair bounced back and forth from the RINGS Holland event and the 2 Hot 2 Handle shows and the original RINGS promotion in Japan.
Overeem fought Bobby Hoffman (Pictures) in the RINGS Millennium Combine 2 show but with just 23 seconds left in the round, Hoffman threw a heavy overhand right, knocking him out. He continued to jet back and forth, scoring wins in both promotions including a victory over MFC veteran and Red Devil Roman Zentsov (Pictures) by keylock.
Alistair competed in the K-1 Lumber Jack Returns show in 2001, losing by TKO to Errol Parris in a kickboxing bout and made his PFC debut at PRIDE: The Best 2 against Yusuke Imamura, stopping him with strikes in under a minute.
Overeem won a four-man tournament at the 2H2H 5 and choked out UFC veteran Aaron Brink (Pictures) at 2H2H 6. In his next trip to Japan, Alistair took on highly touted Russian striker (13-0 as a pro at the time) Bazigit Atajev at PRIDE 24. Alistair struck with “Volk” Atajev and caught him with a knee to the body that stopped the bout just prior to the second round bell.
Alistair clobbered “Batman” Mike Bencic (Pictures) at PRIDE 26 to get into the Total Elimination show but was knocked out by current UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (Pictures) in the first round. Overeem scored a win at Antonio Inoki’s New Year’s Eve 2003 show and went back to Holland to choke out PRIDE Bushido veteran and Golden Glory teammate Rodney Faverus.
At PRIDE 28 he cut Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures) late in the second round for the win but he lost a decision to Rogerio Nogueria at PRIDE 29.
Alistair opened the PRIDE FC 2005 middleweight tournament as a dark horse and not much of a threat to do any serious damage but damage he did. Not only was the Dutchman able to pound on Vitor Belfort (Pictures), he submitted the Brazilian in the closing minute of the first round.
In the quarterfinals, Overeem submitted Igor Vovchanchyn (Pictures) using the same guillotine choke early in the first round. He faced eventual Middleweight GP winner Mauricio Rua (Pictures) in the next round and hung with the champ for nearly seven minutes before being stopped with strikes.
Showing a relentless drive to finish, Alistair pounded respected heavyweight contender Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) with strikes and was and relentless in keeping him grounded until the finish. Sergei didn’t know what hit him and was battered and beaten midway through the first round. And last month Alistair stopped Croatian kickboxer Sanjin Kadunc at the World Cagefighting Championships.
WERDUM: Fabricio Werdum (Pictures) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and carries a professional record of 7-1-1 in MMA. He was a star at the Abu Dhabi Combat Championships in 2003 where he beat PFC and UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures) in the opening round, Jehad Hamdan in the quarterfinals, Mike Van Arsdale (Pictures) in the semifinals and lost to UFC heavyweight Marcio Cruz (Pictures) in the final.
In the Absolute Division that year he defeated Matt Lindland (Pictures), Akira Shoji (Pictures), then lost to Alexandre Ferreira in the semis but came back to defeat “Pe De Pano” to win third place honors. Werdum initially went to Abu Dhabi to help Mark Kerr (Pictures) prepare for the Ricardo Arona (Pictures) super-fight and then was sponsored by Marcos Vinicius de Lucia, the owner of Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu Club. He also trained under Marcio Corleta and Silvio Behring (son of Master Flavio Behring).
Werdum began training jiu-jitsu in 1998 after a girlfriend’s former boyfriend challenged him to a fight. He was unfamiliar with the BJJ and was easily triangle choked in front of his girlfriend. He sought out Winner Behring and instructor Marcio Corleta to begin training. Fabricio was winning world titles and the Pan American championships as a blue belt, the European Cup as a brown belt and won the World Cup and World Championship as a black belt in the super heavyweight category all in a two-year span.
In 2005, Werdum was ready to join the Chute Boxe Academy and train with Wanderlei Silva (Pictures). He was going to be the heavyweight representative and replace Assuerio Silva in the camp and in the PFC. In the final stages of negotiations, Werdum received a phone call from “Cro Cop” agent Ken Imai inviting him to Croatia to train Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) for four months. The deal also included a three-year contract with PRIDE promising four fights in a year. It was an offer he could not turn down and now Werdum trains as part of the Cro Cop Squad.
Fabricio’s MMA debut was at Millennium Brawl in London where he submitted Ultimate Combat heavyweight Tenzig Tedoradze in less than two minutes. He fought to a draw with UFC veteran James Zikic (Pictures) on the next MB show and then won a bout in Spain by decision. Werdum submitted K-1 MMA veteran Kristof Midoux (Pictures) in Morocco before debuting in the Jungle Fight promotion. He fought in the first two events, stopping UFC veterans Gabriel Gonzaga and Ebenezer Braga with strikes.
At PRIDE 29 Werdum made his PFC debut against American wrestler Tom Erikson (Pictures). “Big Cat” took the fight on 12 days’ notice and could not outwork the crafty Brazilian, losing by rear choke in less than six minutes.
Werdum battled Red Devil Roman Zentsov (Pictures) at Final Conflict ’05 show and defeated him by triangle choke in the first round. Then last October Fabricio lost a split decision to top PFC heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures). Many fans (and obviously a judge) felt the bout could’ve gone either way and Werdum may have been slighted. At PRIDE 31 Fabricio took a unanimous decision over SHOOTO veteran Jon Olav Einemo (Pictures).
MY PICK: This could be the most competitive bout of the opening round. You have a premiere grappler versus a premiere striker. Overeem doesn’t have his usual height advantage here either as Werdum is 6-4. Given recent events, you’d have to say Overeem is a bigger threat than Kharitonov right now and Werdum couldn’t submit the Russian. We also know Alistair is no BJJ black belt but he went to Abu Dhabi and is no joke on the ground. If he can keep it standing, he might just finish the Brazilian on their feet. Overeem by TKO in the second round.