The Dutch-born Alistair Overeem fought Brock Lesnar in the UFC and Chuck Liddel in PRIDE FC. ‘The Demolition Man’ has had a storied career all around the globe. Recently, with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Overeem named who was tougher between Brock Lesnar and ‘The Iceman’ Lidell.
Brock Lesnar or Chuck Liddell
Brock Lesnar was a former WWE competitor and a standout in NCAA collegiate wrestling. The heavyweight athlete transitioned to MMA and was able to capture the UFC heavyweight title by defeating Randy Couture. Lesnar and Overeem fought at heavyweight with the Dutch athlete taking a TKO win.
‘The Iceman’ Chuck Liddell is one of the fighters who helped establish the UFC as a mainstream sport in the USA. The mohawked fighter stood out for his knockout style. The former UFC light heavyweight champion was entered into the PRIDE FC tournament in Japan. The US-born Liddell had a back-and-forth war against Overeem before knocking him out. Liddell would go on to lose to ‘Rampage’ Jackson in this Grand Prix.
Alistair Overeem
The Dutch athlete Alistair Overeem has fought across the world in multiple organizations. He was able to capture titles in DREAM, Strikeforce, and K-1. Additionally, he competed in GLORY, PRIDE FC, and the UFC, among others. Throughout his storied career, he has faced legendary figures such as Badr Hari, Francis Ngannou, Stipe Miocic, Junior dos Santos, Mirko Cro Cop, ‘Shogun’ Rua, Peter Aerts, Vitor Belfort, Igor Vovchanchyn, plus, of course, Chuck Liddell and Brock Lesnar.
On comparing Lesnar and Liddell, Overeem explained:
“Chuck in PRIDE. When I was young, I was 23 when I fought him, I didn’t know anything. Training was not good, no strength from the conditioning. My coaches back then … Lucien [Carbin] was kind of a traditional coach and his stuff didn’t work. I mean, the knees worked, but other than that. I didn’t see any low kick, high kicks. All that stuff didn’t work.”
The Dutch-Surinamese Lucien Carbin was one of the first students at the Mejiro Gym, in the Netherlands, founded by Jan Plas. This was one of the gyms responsible for transitioning Kyokushin karate to Dutch style Kickboxing.
