Grizzled veteran Alistair Overeem, all of 40 years old, takes on Brazilian Augusto Sakai in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, September 6, 2020.
In the co-main event another veteran Ovince St. Preux, 37, battles dangerous striker Alonzo Menifield.
Overeem, ranked 6th in UFC standings and who has lost three of his last six fights by KO/TKO, tries to wheel back into championship contention when he takes on Sakai.
In other fights of the main card of the evening Sijara Eubanks battles Karol Rosa in a Women’s Bantamweight bout; Michel Pereira takes on Zelim Imadaev at Welterweight; Brian Kelleher faces Kevin Natividad in a Featherweight bout; and Thiago Moises battles Jalin Turner at Lightweight.
Overeem, who either wins big or losses big, will be fighting his 65th MMA battle. He was on his way to beating Jairzinho Rozenstruik by decision when the latter split open Overeem’s face with four seconds left to win by stoppage.
Even Overeem’s last bout—a knockout victory over Walt Harris—could have gone either way. Overeem seemed to be on the way to being knocked out by Harris before turning the bout around and scoring his own knockout victory in the second.
Meanwhile, Sakai made a spectacular debut at UFC when he beat Chase Sherman in 2018 by TKO in the third round. He struggled against Andrei Arlovski April last year but eventually won by split decision.
Sakai tallied another spectacular victory inside the Octagon last May when he knocked out Marcin Tybura in the first round.
The enigmatic Overeem will have his hands full against Sakai. Overeem has shown glimpses of greatness but has never quite lived up to that promise inside the UFC Octagon. He has beaten five former UFC Heavyweight champions but has challenged for the crown only once.
A victory over Sakai will be a step in the right direction—that is a step closer to another shot at the UFC Heavyweight crown.
