Fuelled by bad blood and a strong sense of unfinished business, Alistair Overeem is promising to “finish” Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a potential rematch, before concluding an already stellar career with a heavyweight title shot.
The Dutchman, in Dubai having last month reeled off a second successive UFC victory, is targeting another meeting with Rozenstruik following their clash in Las Vegas in December. Overeem lost via knockout with only four seconds of the five-round fight remaining, with all three judges having him up on the scorecards.
Currently the division’s No 5-ranked contender, Overeem said a second scrap with the No 3 challenger is the only bout that motivates him.
"I'm going to have, I think, a rematch with Rozenstruik - that would seem to me the most logical next fight," Overeem told The National on Tuesday, at a promotional event for UAE-based fitness brand Gym Clothing Co. "He's not booked, I'm not booked. There's still some bad blood there, still some scores to settle.
“I’m going to finish him the next fight - he knows it too. And if not, he’ll know fairly soon. Then I’m thinking a title shot after that. And when I win that I’m going to retire immediately.”
Having turned 40 in May, Overeem conceded he has noticed age catching up a little during this past year, although he believes he is still honing his talent.
The defeat to Rozenstruik was his only reverse in his past five fights, while he has won twice since the eve of his birthday. Last month, Overeem dispatched Augusto Sakai by fifth-round TKO in Las Vegas.
“I love being healthy, I love the lifestyle, I love being fit, I love improving,” he said. “I’m still improving: even at 40 I think you can clearly see that in my fights, there’s still improvement. I’m still executing new techniques, finishing much young fighters. I’m still winning. I’m still on a learning curve.
“But I have to be realistic. I’m going to have a couple more fights and then I’m going to hang up the gloves. I’m already saying if I win the belt I retire. Then the mission is completed. It’s over.”
A former heavyweight champion in both Strikeforce and Dream, and a K-1 World Grand Prix champion, Overeem fought for the UFC title in 2016, but was beaten by Stipe Miocic. With Miocic having regained the belt two months ago, and set to take on No 1 contender Francis Ngannou next, there is plenty elsewhere to play for in the heavyweight division.
Add in Jon Jones, the former light heavyweight champion who recently vacated his crown to move up, and heavyweight picture is an intriguing one. Jones is widely considered the greatest UFC athlete of all time.
“Jon Jones is a little bit the dark horse, because he’s coming up and it’s a little bit unclear what’s going to happen there,” Overeem said. “Is he going to fight for the title straight away or a contender? It’s a little bit difficult to predict. But I’m just focused on my own journey, my own trajectory, which is one more fight, might be two more fights.
“Looking at Rozenstruik’s ranking, and looking at my past performances, I’m definitely eligible to fight for a title.”
While Overeem (46-18, 11-7 UFC) says Jones “definitely deserves” a title shot given his pedigree and past record, he would be open to fight his former training partner should the UFC decide to make it happen.
“I’ve trained with him, so I do have some inside information,” Overeem said. “I do like him; we’ve never had any bad blood. But it could be a match-up also in the horizon.
“I don’t necessarily have a want to fight Jon Jones, but I never say no to a fight. That’s been one of the things throughout my career: I’ll fight anybody anywhere, any time, any rules. It is what it is. If it comes across it’ll come across, if it doesn’t it doesn’t.”
Overeem has kept an eye on the feud simmering between Jones and Israel Adesanya on social media, with the American and the current middleweight champion trading yet more insults on Tuesday.
Last week, the unbeaten Adesanya defended his crown emphatically against Paulo Costa at UFC253 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, with many observers of the sport calling for him to face Jones.
“Very interesting,” Overeem said. “Adesanya is a star; Jon is a star, of course. I’m very intrigued by that bad blood between them. But is Adesanya willing to move up? And then does Jon Jones want to linger around light heavyweight?
“Because that’s a fight actually where he has something to lose. He’s going to be defending his belt against a dangerous fighter, because Adesanya has previously been underestimated, time and time again. And he’s withstood the test every time.
“I don’t really think - and I think everyone would agree with me - that Jon Jones is really willing to get that fight. He’s set his sights on heavyweight, because that’s a new challenge and there’s a lot to gain for him there. And Adesanya can actually take away his star power, his fame.
“The funny thing is, you would immediately underestimate [Adesanya in a higher weight class] because you think he’s a striker, he’s got no skills. But why is nobody taking him to the ground? Obviously he’s marketable. When he talks he captivates you. So he’s definitely an intriguing character. That’s what’s making that beef very interesting too. I hope I see that fight.”
Asked if that’s a match-up to make immediately, Overeem said: “Because it’s hot right now. And if you don’t act when the iron is hot it can cool off and dissipate. I don’t know; we’ll have to see. But the bad blood is real; they really do not like each other. Which makes the fight more interesting.”
________________________
Israel Adesanya beats Paulo Costa at UFC 253
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Manchester United v Club America
When: Thursday, 9pm Arizona time (Friday UAE, 8am)
The Dark Blue Winter Overcoat & Other Stories From the North
Edited and Introduced by Sjón and Ted Hodgkinson
Pushkin Press
SPECS
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
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As You Were
Liam Gallagher
(Warner Bros)
Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets
