Alistair Overeem acknowledges “the end is coming,” but is not ready to retire yet

Alistair Overeem has long stood out as one of the best heavyweights in the world. That being said, the former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 heavyweight champion has recently fallen on tough times, having been violently stopped by Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes in his last two fights.

Given the recent trajectory of Alistair Overeem’s career, many fans have called for him to retire. Overeem has heard these calls, and from the sounds of it, it’s something he’s thinking about. The time hasn’t come quite yet, however.

“I’m 38 years old, and that’s important to note,” Alistair Overeem told ESPN. “I fully realize the end of my career is coming. It’s just coming. You can’t fight forever. I’ve had a beautiful career. Twenty-one years … crazy. Twenty-one years of fighting.

“The end is coming, but I can still do this right now. And I can still go all in.”

On the heels of his two recent losses, Overeem has relocated from his long-time home at JacksonWink MMA to Elevation MMA — where his last opponent trains. Overeem says he would have moved to Elevation sooner, had he not been preparing for a fight with Blaydes.

“I’ve noticed some things were missing [in my previous training camps],” Overeem said. “I started to look around at different camps, and I had plans to train in Denver. When the Curtis fight was booked, I put that to the side and trained with what I had at the time. The results weren’t good, and that was a wakeup call for me.

“I had seen Curtis early this year, and we were talking about me coming to the gym. After our fight happened, I sent him a message, and he said I should still come out. I like the vibe of the gym and the city. I still feel, clearly, as if I can make that next jump.”

What do you think the future holds for the heavyweight legend Alistair Overeem?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/13/2018.