Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports
Alistair Overeem will return to action at UFC on ESPN 7 on Dec. 7 live on ESPN from inside Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. as he takes on rising heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who is stepping up on short notice for Walt Harris.
Overeem, 39, has rebounded nicely since dropping back-to-back knockout losses to Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes from 2017-2018. The veteran heavyweight fighter has now won his last two Octagon appearances, which include a recent TKO victory over Russian contender Alexey Oleynik. As a result of his recent success Overeem has now positioned himself for another run at UFC gold entering 2020.
In order to get closer to the title Overeem needs to take care of business against Rozenstruik at UFC on ESPN 7. While Overeem is vastly more experienced and can end the fight in more ways than his opponent, Rozenstruik has nasty power which has helped him finish each of his first three trips to the Octagon by way of knockout or TKO.
In preparation for the heavyweight headliner next weekend in Washington D.C., the promotion has released Overeem’s bout with former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski from back in 2016. The fight, which can be seen in the above video player, is the first and only meeting between the two heavyweight legends. After five minutes of back-and-forth action Overeem was able to find a home for an unsuspected crane kick that sent “Pitbull” into a tizzy and forced the TKO stoppage.
If Overeem can mix things up against Rozenstruik like he has done in the past against proven contenders like Arlovski then maybe he can produce another highlight-reel finish. But if he tries to mix things up too much then Overeem could end up getting caught by a Rozenstruik knockout blow.
For more UFC on ESPN 7 fight card news click here.