Fans were excited to hear that Alistair Overeem was making a return to kickboxing for the first time in over a decade. Now it has been revealed that he will be facing off against Rico Verhoeven for the GLORY heavyweight title.
Overeem parted ways with the UFC after losing to Alexander Volkov in February, in large part due to the amount of money that it took to hold on to him. Following this, he announced that he was making the move to GLORY, returning to his roots in kickboxing.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, the 41-year old revealed that he will making his kickboxing return on October 23rd. Furthermore, it will be for their heavyweight title, against legendary kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.
“Next fight is announced, next fight is booked, next fight is final. We will challenging for the GLORY heavyweight kickboxing title on October 23, in the Netherlands, in my backyard. Yeah, it’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be against Rico, and I’m very excited,” Overeem said.
Alistair Overeem Has No Beef With Rico Verhoeven
While this fight is one that has Alistair Overeem quite excited, it is not one that is based in bad blood. In fact, he says that he has nothing but respect for Rico Verhoeven.
He explained that he and Rico had trained together in the past, and that he is a great fighter. Moreover, the Reem praised Verhoeven for being such a positive role model for the sport in the Netherlands.
“He was in my camp in 2012. We hung out a little bit here and there, social guy. I can’t say anything bad about him. I think he’s done great in his career, he’s winning his fights. I think he’s a good role model for the sport,” Overeem said.
It is going to be great to see Alistair Overeem back in the world of kickboxing, and it is exciting to see him jump right back in on a championship level. While he will be missed in the UFC, GLORY seems like the second best option.
