Things did not go the way of Alistair Overeem on Saturday night.
The longtime UFC fighter suffered a TKO loss to Alexander Volkov (33-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in the main fight at UFC Fight Night 184 in Las Vegas. Overeem (47-19 MMA, 13-8 UFC) was stopped in the second round after being bloodied and beaten on the foot by the Russian in the first round.
Overeem, who saw the end of a winning streak of two fights with defeat, revealed in a
“You are a true warrior (Alexander Volkov) Congratulations on your victory!” Overeem wrote on Instagram. “Yesterday was not my night. I couldn’t recover from that punch in the first round after I broke my nose. My top priority now is to heal myself and spend some well-deserved time with the family. I’ll be back in the gym soon.
“Thank you all for your support! I see the comments, you are the best.”
The 40-year-old former title challenger said in preparation for UFC Fight Night 184 that he was on his last run to win the UFC title and that he was nearing the end of his 22-year MMA career. Overeem did not indicate retirement in his testimony and said he would soon return to the academy.
Overeem, a former heavyweight champion from DREAM, K-1 and Strikeforce, is 4-2 in his last six matches. He had consecutive wins over Walt Harris and Agusto Sakai before losing to Volkov.