Breaking | Former UFC title challengers Alistair Overeem and Kelvin Gastelum book their next fights

Two huge fights have been announced as the UFC return of heavyweight Alistair Overeem and middleweight Kelvin Gastelum are now official.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke both fight announcements on Thursday. On February 6, Overeem will take on Alexander Volkov in a five-round heavyweight fight that headlines a UFC Fight Night card. And on January 30, Gastelum makes his return to the Octagon when he takes on Ian Heinisch. There is no location set for either event as of yet.

Alistair Overeem's (@Alistairovereem) "one final run" at a UFC belt will meet Alexander Volkov (@AlexDragoVolkov) next. Overeem vs. Volkov to headline UFC Fight Night on Feb. 6, per Dana White (@danawhite). https://t.co/bKSRQCAGOn

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 12, 2020

Alistair Overeem’s ( @Alistairovereem ) “one final run” at a UFC belt will meet Alexander Volkov ( @AlexDragoVolkov ) next. Overeem vs. Volkov to headline UFC Fight Night on Feb. 6, per Dana White ( @danawhite ).

Kelvin Gastelum (@KelvinGastelum) and Ian Heinisch (@ianheinischmma) have agreed to meet at UFC Fight Night on Jan. 30, per sources. https://t.co/c5BvOzephR

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 12, 2020

Kelvin Gastelum ( @KelvinGastelum ) and Ian Heinisch ( @ianheinischmma ) have agreed to meet at UFC Fight Night on Jan. 30, per sources.

Overeem is coming off of back-to-back TKO wins over Augusto Sakai and Walt Harris in his last two outings. He’s won four of his last five overall with just a lone loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik during that stretch. Overeem was calling for a rematch for the last few months but the UFC decided instead to give him Volkov, who is coming off of an outstanding performance again Harris as he knocked him out on Fight Island. Both Overeem and Volkov are top-10 heavyweights and the winner will be in title contention.

As for the Gastelum vs. Heinisch fight, that’s another big one in the UFC middleweight division. Gastelum has been calling for a fight against Edmen Shahbazyan but instead, he lands Heinisch. Gastelum is riding a three-fight losing skid entering this fight, while Heinisch is coming off of a KO win over Gerald Meerschaert. Middleweight is a stacked division so this is a very important fight for both men going forward at 185lbs.

Who do you think wins, Alistair Overeem or Alexander Volkov, and Kelvin Gastelum or Ian Heinisch?