Alistair Overeem hasn't been shy about his views on the state of the UFC heavyweight division. In a recent chat with leading MMA journalist Kyle Dimond for Bloody Elbow, the former title challenger offered a frank assessment of where the weight class stands today.
It's no secret that there is a decline, unfortunately," Overeem said. "The top guys will remain the top guys, but it's not as colorful as it once used to be. Used to be you'd have 15 to 20 top-name heavyweights. That's now not the case. It kind of slowly declined.
The Tides of Combat Sports
Overeem sees the heavyweight dip as part of a broader cycle he's witnessed before β one that saw kickboxing and K-1 go through similar lulls before MMA surged, and which boxing is now emerging from. He pointed to the geographic concentration of the sport's golden era as part of the explanation.
Before we saw a similar decline in K-1, in kickboxing. And that kind of happened to MMA now as well. Boxing made a revival," he said. "The golden era of MMA β Fedor, Big Nog, Vitor Belfort, Sakuraba β and then later into the UFC: Franklin, Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones. This originated from different promotions and different countries pushing the sport. There's also not much coming from Japan these days, and at the height in the 90s and early 2000s there were a lot of fighters coming from there.
On Jon Jones and the UFC
Overeem was measured on the Jon Jones situation, declining to take sides but offering his read on why the standoff between Jones and the promotion has dragged on. The UFC recently announced Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title at UFC Freedom 250 β a fight that came together after Jon Jones confirmed he had been in talks for the White House card before negotiations broke down.
It's between him and the UFC," Overeem said. "John will have his reasons and the UFC will have their reasons. I think ultimately it's just fighter pay β they offered him something with the Tom Aspinall fight and they didn't want to give the same offer with Pereira or something like this. Between Jon and the UFC, there'll be a lot of details we don't even know about. So it's difficult to have an opinion on that.
Pereira vs. Gane and the Weight Math
On the upcoming interim title fight itself, Overeem sees it as a favorable stylistic setup for Pereira β more so than Jones would have been.
For Pereira the Gane fight is more beneficial. Gane is more of a striker than a wrestler and submission artist than Jones is. Jones is extremely well-rounded on the ground. I think it's going to be a great fight and more favorable to Pereira.
He also spoke to Pereira's dramatic weight journey, calling it remarkable. "Alex will be like 109, 110 kg and Gane will be 115, 116 β it will not be that much different. Alex Pereira is a big guy. It's amazing what he's been doing with his weight going up β he was middleweight at one point. Crazy."
Ngannou's Situation
Overeem also weighed in on Francis Ngannou, who has since signed to fight Philipe Lins on May 16. At the time of the interview, Ngannou was linked to a Renan Ferreira bout, and Overeem was skeptical.
It's unfortunate we're not going to see him versus Jon Jones. Politics play [a role]. He's going to now fight [Renan] Ferreira. Seems like a light heavyweight β might be a tough night for him.