This Guest UG Blog comes from the desk of Wade Hamilton.
Do you remember what you were doing in 1999? Where you were? Who you wanted to be? Who you were with? What was happening in your life at the time? Think about it, because whatever answer you came up with, Alistair Overeem was in Holland fighting at the highest levels of MMA, in a sport that chews people up and spits them out.
After having worked as a commentator for the UFC for many years, Eddie Bravo once said It’s easy for people to get to the UFC, what’s tough is them staying there. Most careers are short-lived, even at the highest of levels and for the toughest of people.
“It’s a young’s man game is a phrase that gets thrown around quite a bit, and for good reason. One of the most impressive tasks an athlete undertakes is the mental and physical consumption that goes into preparing for, training for, and fighting another man who’s trying to cause you brain damage. Doing this multiple times a year for over two decades, and in the light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, is an accomplishment precious few can claim.
To give some perspective on just how impressive the longevity of Alistair Overeem’s MMA career has been, while he was already fighting …
•Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were in fifth grade;
•Star Wars Episode 1, the first Harry Potter, and the first Lord of the Rings films were not yet released;
•Cell phones were virtually non-existent;
•Gameboy hadn’t been released; and,
•Tom Brady (the now 43-year-old making his 10th Superbowl appearance this Sunday) was a relatively unknown college kid.
What’s most impressive about Overeem’s career is not the 47 wins in MMA, and 10 more in kickboxing, it’s the adversity he’s gone through and overcome, time and time again. That’s something we can all relate to in our everyday lives – getting knocked back but having the determination to stand up and keep fighting. In a career spanning 20+ years and filled with beautiful knockouts, submissions, and many tough losses, the perseverance that Alistair Overeem has exhibited in never giving up on himself is something we can all commend, and draw inspiration from.
And win lose or draw vs. Alexander Volkov in the main event of UFC Vegas 18 night, one thing remains constant … PRIDE NEVER DIE.
