Alistair Overeem was a component of the UFC’s heavyweight division when it was suffering from big names.
In recent times, this weight class has been heavily criticized by the fans for having a scarcity of stars, rising talent, and entertaining matchups.
There have been some big announcements in the broader heavyweight landscape but that doesn’t mean it’s getting any higher.
While Overeem is worked up to look at Alex Pereira vs Ciryl Gane, he agrees that the division isn’t the marquee line-up that it once was.
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Alistair Overeem believes heavyweight’s decline is a results of the ‘tides of life’
In an interview with Bloody Elbow, Alistair Overeem provided some theories as to why he believes the heavyweight division isn’t what it once was.
“It’s no secret that there’s a decline, unfortunately. Although the highest guys will remain the highest guys, it’s not as vibrant because it once was,” he said. “There was 15-20 top name heavyweights, which is not the case.”
The Dutch knockout artist believes that ultimately this can be a results of what he calls the “tides of life”, using the indisputable fact that some promotions and countries that used to supply plenty of talent don’t anymore for example of this.
“There’s not much coming from Japan lately which at the peak within the nineties and the early 2000s, there was plenty of fighters coming from there… “I feel it’s a bit bit just like the tides. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not there. Sometimes markets get saturated, sometimes they dry up.”
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He also highlighted the momentum that boxing has had in recent times, calling it a “revival”, as something that has only increased the criticism of the heavyweight landscape in MMA.
Overeem remained at the best level of the game for longer than a lot of his fellow heavyweight stars, having competed contained in the Octagon for the ultimate time in 2021.
The 45-year-old spoke to Bloody Elbow about how his life has modified significantly since then, including the belief that he was hooked on his phone and the advantages he’s seen since coping with this.