Alistair Overeem’s GLORY debut is set, and the decorated MMA and kickboxing vet is going straight for gold.
On the Monday edition of The MMA Hour, Overeem announced his return to the kickboxing ring in a fall headliner against GLORY heavyweight champ Rico Verhoeven.
The title bout headlines GLORY: Collision 3, which takes place Oct. 23 at the 34,000-seat GelreDome in Arnhem, Netherlands. The event streams on internet pay-per-view via Glory’s new streaming platform, GLORYFights.com.
Overeem signed with the kickboxing promotion three months after his release from the UFC, which came after a TKO loss to Alexander Volkov in February at UFC Vegas 18 and ended a nearly 10-year run with the MMA promotion. He signed with the UFC after a decorated run outside the octagon in which he captured titles in rival promotions Strikeforce and DREAM; he fought once for the UFC heavyweight title against now-former champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 203. He also made history when he won the 2010 K-1 Grand Prix, becoming the first fighter to simultaneously hold three titles in MMA and kickboxing.
In Verhoeven, Overeem meets one of GLORY’s most dominant forces. Unbeaten in six years, the 32-year-old champ holds two victories over Badr Hari and in January won a four-man heavyweight tournament to extend his unbeaten streak to 14 fights.
Other bouts for the upcoming GLORY event on Oct. 23 will be announced shortly.
