Inside look: Alistair Overeem moments before Jairzinho Rozenstruik split-lip loss, and aftermath
Alistair Overeem gives an inside look at the moments before his fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and a reflection on the fight after.
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Alistair Overeem was on the wrong end of a classic comeback.
After 24 minutes of control, using his grappling to dictate the fight, Overeem was on his way to stopping the hype of the rising and undefeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik before Rozenstruik connected with a Hail Mary overhand right with four seconds left that dropped Overeem and sliced his lip in half.
Some argued it was an early stoppage, but it put a halt to the former UFC heavyweight title challenger’s two-fight winning streak and climb back to contention.
In the latest episode of “The Reem” documentary, Overeem gives an inside look at the moments before he made the walk to the octagon this past December, and a reflection on the fight after.
Overeem was scheduled to face Walt Harris in the UFC on ESPN+ 30 main event in Portland on April 11 before the coronavirus outbreak canceled the event. Rozenstruik was matched up against Francis Ngannou in the UFC on ESPN 8 headliner on March 28, but that fight was also canceled due to the global pandemic.
Their paths may not cross in the near future, but Overeem hopes he can run things back with Rozenstruik.
“Everybody in the world could see that I was the better fighter, and I was winning, and it was just a (expletive) stoppage,” Overeem said. “So it’s just the result and the derailment that bothers me. The fight itself, you get hit, damaged, it’s all nothing.
“Maybe one day we could run it back and then we’ll be finishing him. I should have already finished because then there’s no argument. That’s what I do. I look at the mirror: We should have just finished him and we’ll do it next time if we get another chance.”
Watch the full episode in the video above.
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