Fans apparently won’t see [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] in a professional fight again – nor will they see him bulked-up like usual. That’s because the UFC veteran has made some dramatic lifestyle changes, resulting in his retirement from combat sports.
Overeem, 43, made the announcement casually during a June 1 appearance on “Lovin Dubai” that focused on his health. The interview resurfaced Tuesday (h/t Middle Easy).
“I actually just decided to stop fighting,” Overeem said. “This is not my thing anymore. It’s been 25 years, right? We’re going to do other cool stuff now.”
“Other cool stuff,” according to Overeem, includes plans to “promote health.”
Overeem caused quite the stir last month when a photo of him, alongside Rizin FF CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara, made the rounds on social media. In the photo, Overeem looked shockingly thin, which led many to speculate if he was battling an illness.
Alistair Overeem is looking slim!
The Dutch legend met up with RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara last weekend. He's currently serving a suspension but is rumored to return for the GLORY Heavyweight Grand Prix in December, with $500,000 on the line. pic.twitter.com/BFX39fFOZH
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) June 19, 2023
As it turns out, Overeem’s considerable weight loss was by choice after he met a “special nutriotionist,” Julian VanHoven, and turned vegetarian.
“He’s like, ‘Yep, we’re gonna detox.’ I’m like a soldier,” Overeem said. “’Okay, let’s go.’ When I met him, I instantly knew this guy has knowledge, so we started working, and I started taking these supplements in a reasonably high dosage, which you can just do on an empty stomach. And after a couple of weeks, my diet, my appetite changed.”
Overeem, who years ago admitted to having a penchant for eating horse meat, detailed how he usually would eat steak at 8 a.m. every day as part of a regiment to build muscle. But that changed rather quickly once he connected with VanHoven.
“When I spoke to Julian, I asked him what’s happening,” Overeem said. “I don’t want to eat my steak anymore, but I want to eat my steak because I want muscles, and he said, ‘You had parasites in your body. We gave you the supplements, you start detoxing your body,’ and these supplements are just simple seaweed.
“Everybody could take it, and this creates an alkaline environment, which these parasites do not like. They will get hurt and die off and once you get rid of them, your tastes change. It’s not me who needs to eat meat, it’s the parasites that influence me, work through me to make me think I want to eat meat, but it’s not me. And once you get rid of them, you don’t care.”
Overeem, a former Strikeforce and DREAM champion, was released from the UFC in March 2021. He returned to kickboxing with GLORY and most recently competed last October against Badr Hari. The fight, originally a unanimous decision win for Overeem, was overturned to a no contest after Overeem failed a drug test.
During an MMA career that spanned 22 years, Overeem went 47-19 as a professional, including 12-8 in the UFC. He holds notable victories over Brock Lesnar, Fabricio Werdum, Junior Dos Santos, Vitor Belfort, and Mark Hunt.