Despite saying he never liked pro wrestling, it appears that Alistair Overeem will try it out anyway.
The Reem is taking his act to the squared circle.
Former Strikeforce and K-1 champ Alistair Overeem, who had plied his trade in the UFC for a decade until being released last year, was apparently looking for a new vocation. The artist formerly known as Braun Strowman, who had worked for WWE for eight years, was similarly released in 2021 and needed something new.
Now, thanks to new promotion Wrestling Entertainment Series, we will apparently see them face off on June 4th in Overeem’s pro wrestling debut. WES confirmed the matchup via press release, which will take place at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.
The 42-year-old Overeem (47-19, 1 NC MMA) hasn’t competed in any form since a TKO loss to Alexander Volkov in February 2021. He has been quite vocal in the past about not being a fan of pro wrestling, and has even referred to as ‘gay’. I guess a paycheck is a paycheck.
Strowman, real name Adam Scherr, is a former strongman champion that entered WWE as a huge prospect (literally, he’s 6’8, 385) and is a former Universal Champion.
In other MMA news, the promotion is being co-ran by Gzim Selmani, who wrestled as Rezar in WWE as one half of the Authors of Pain (his partner, Sunny Dhinsa, is the other owner). Selmani also has eight MMA bouts and is a Bellator veteran, going 6-2 overall.
You will be able to watch the card live on FiteTV. It is quite stacked by independent wrestling standards, featuring a plethora of ex-WWE wrestlers such as Nia Jax (Lina Fanene), Lana (CJ Perry), and Killer Kross (Kevin Kesar).