Former Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair ‘The Reem’ Overeem (35-11, 1NC) has signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is set to make his promotional debut on December 30 in Las Vegas against former UFC champ Brock Lesnar (5-2).
The UFC made the announcement official by posting this notice at UFC.com on Tuesday afternoon.
Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem has found a new home – in the UFC. But after signing a deal with the promotion today in Las Vegas, he’s going to get put to work immediately, as it was also announced that he will make his Octagon debut on December 30th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena against former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Overeem comes over to the UFC after competing in the opening round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix tournament, earning a unanimous decision win over Fabricio Werdum. The Dutch fighter is undefeated in eleven bouts and is the current DREAM heavyweight champ, as well as the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix winner.
Lesnar will make his Octagon return in December, fourteen months since his last fight, a title loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. Since that time Lesnar coached on TUF 13 opposite Junior dos Santos, and was forced to pull out of his UFC 131 bout against the Brazilian due to a second bout of diverticulitis. The former champ underwent surgery to repair the problem, having a 12-inch piece of colon removed, and is apparently set to return to the Octagon.
UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta spoke to the LATimes.com about the signing.
“Brock is a big name, a dangerous guy, and this is a dream matchup. I want to see this fight myself. Overall, I’m a different fighter. A striker, athletic, big. These are going to be two big trucks going at it on a collision course.”
“Our thinking when we bought Strikeforce was to give fans the fights they want,” Fertitta said. “Obviously, Alistair’s one of the best heavyweights in the world, but he also has that ‘it’ factor — the tremendous look, he’s huge. It’s a star factor.”