‘It became me’: Alistair Overeem talks PEDs, CTE, fighter pay and life in a post-fighting world

Alistair Overeem smiles, and as he does, you can hear the air being released in the hyperbaric chamber he is lying in.

The former MMA heavyweight star is wearing a nasal cannula that loops over his ears and the pale blue piece of equipment sends oxygen into the 45-year-old’s nostrils.

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“So the hyperbaric chamber, there’s more particles here and then more oxygen here,” he says, “so when you’re in this chamber and this nostril [attachment] is pushing oxygen, and then you breathe it in, your body has the ability to kind of hold more oxygen, which has super healing benefits.

“I mean, obviously I’m not fighting anymore, but there’s sure going to be some fighters who are using this for performance benefits, but I’m just doing it for health.”

Overeem has become all about health and longevity.

He dragged his near-240-pound frame around a half-marathon recently, but is now about looking after himself rather than trying to inflict damage on others.

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The English-born fighter, who went to live with his mother and older brother in Holland when he was 6, now resides in Dubai, and says the structure and discipline of being a top athlete has given him qualities he can still use even though he has left fighting behind.

“I think the sport structured that energy into discipline, into routines, into methods, and you’re doing it for so long, so it kind becomes you, right?” he says. “It became me, and then the fight stopped all of a sudden. For me, the goal was always fighting and it was always kind of the great financial independence. It kind of transferred now into longevity and well-being — feel good, live longer, be happy, live healthier.

“I also wanted to inspire others into this journey. It’s a great journey. Being fit is great. Being on the diet is great. It’s a great discovery, but also it’s also scientifically proven now, what you eat is what you become. How you eat determines your mind, your feelings, not even to mention the ice bath, hot and cold, sauna, breathwork, fasting, detoxing. There’s like so much to do on this new playing field.”

Overeem has thrown himself into this new life.

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The half-marathon will be followed by his first Hyrox, which he is training for. He doesn’t miss the fighting. He says he did more than enough of that.

Now, it’s about embracing the lifestyle changes he threads through his daily life.

He’s worked with world-renowned breathwork specialist Wim Hof. He’s clocked an hour in an ice bath after having too many to count that lasted 20 and 30 minutes.

“Increased motivation, clarity,” Overeem says are the upsides.

“But also for my injury.”

Overeem has struggled with lower back pain that he has be unable to shift, but it dissipates when submerged in the cold plunges.

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He calls that a game-changer. But then everything else plays a part.

Although he only gets about six or seven hours of sleep a night — not a lot for an athlete (he might get eight and a half hours after a hard day of training) — Overeem has said that in his quest for longevity, he could live to be 125.

He drinks coffee but steers clear of alcohol. He indulges his sweet tooth a couple of times a week but generally “I’ll keep my diet very much on point.”

Asked about general cognitive function and the looming shadow of CTE over someone who had nearly 100 fights and who faced some of the biggest beasts known to heavyweight fighting, Overeem says he hasn’t spoken to any experts about it, although he is going to have discussions with a brain performance center to take some tests — in part to help create awareness for the center.

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“But am I afraid of my own CTE?” he asks, pausing so I can hear the chamber firing out more air.

“No, no. I’m not afraid.”

Does he feel like “he’s gotten away with it,” or that it might seek him out later?

“I’ll tell you. I think that our body has a regenerative capability, if your body is in the right state — and that is what I’m focused on every day.

“So the ice bath is one of those tools. … Sauna is one of those tools. My diet is one of those tools. My fasting is one of those tools. I believe very strongly that if you’re so much immersed in all these intermittent lifestyle hacks, your body is very much imbalanced and your regenerative capacity will just increase dramatically. And yeah, CTE can be healed, avoided. That’s what I believe.”

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Regardless, Overeem is giving himself the best chance in his post-fighting life, and that is one of the reasons he has committed to this wellness routine.

It wasn’t always like this for Overeem. Yes, he fought and had a physique that looked like a shield of cartoon-like muscles (more on that later), but the clarity in his vision for health has come out of a crisis point. He has no desire to hide the fact that for a long period of his life, he was addicted to his phone. He would reach for it more than 100 times a day. He’d scroll. He’d lose hours. He’d turn it off to go to sleep, but as soon as he woke, he’d be doing the same thing.

“I was addicted without understanding that I was addicted, because phone addiction I would say six, seven, eight years, 10 years ago, nobody knew about it, right? And that’s when I kind of was addicted, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019,” he says. “Only when I broke it in 2021, I felt such a difference, and relief, and clear in my mind. Awareness just went up, after limiting the usage of the device. I just did 30 minutes.”

Overeem became so fed up with himself for staring at the screen that he cut his time on the phone to 30 minutes in the morning with another 30-minute slot later in the day.

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He felt great, and he started studying about his internal reward system, the dopamine receptor and how phone use can knock it off kilter, and he knew that while he was still fighting, it was likely inhibiting his performance.

That really frustrated him, as much as it does now when he warns young up-and-comers about the amount of time they spend on their devices.

“The phone was definitely messing with me,” he says. “And also with my performance, which I know in hindsight. It’s also very interesting, because when I talk to other fighters, I’ve told other fighters, ‘Hey, you need to quit your phone, it’s going to boost your performance.’

“If somebody told me, ‘Hey, quit your phone, you’re going to win your fight,’ I would have quit my phone sooner. Absolutely. I know myself, I do everything to win. I sleep on the mountain at 3,200 meters [in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado], I would not see my family for six weeks at a time, I did everything to win fights. If somebody would tell me, ‘Quit your phone, you will win your fight,’ I would do it. I told other fighters, ‘Hey, you need to do this, because you’re going to win your fight,’ and it doesn’t really resonate.”

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But Overeem estimates he has inspired a couple hundred people to beat phone addiction. It’s something he talks to his children about, too.

It was actually seeing his oldest daughter struggle with her screen-time that kicked Overeem into looking at change. She started to get depressed and didn’t want to go to school.

With his youngest, he has not allowed her to build up the addiction in the first place by monitoring her access closely.

“Basically, we are addicted to information, right? And in general, if you look at apps like TikTok, it’s very quick information,” he says. “So very quick, quick scrolling. I mean, if you ask yourself, what did you see today? You wouldn’t even remember.”

Today, Overeem is a man at peace with his accomplishments. He is one of the rare few happy to build a life away from fighting. He misses the camaraderie, teammates and the other fighters, but — of course — he still goes to the gym, even if he’s lowered the intensity. He feels like training with a new purpose has allowed his old injuries and niggles to heal.

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“My career was also long, 25 years, 94 fights, and that’s a lot of fights,” he explains.

“At some point you need to step away, you need to walk away. I love to fight, but right now I’m very busy creating a life after fighting, post-fight career, and it’s beautiful. There’s a lot of stuff to do. The world doesn’t only consist of fighting.”

But for a long time for Overeem, it did.

Am I afraid of my own CTE? No, no. I’m not afraid.

He was also part of a simpler time.

At present, the UFC is being destabilized by external forces, anti-trust suits and almost daily complaints about fighter pay.

Overeem is not specifically following Zuffa’s entry into boxing, but has caught “an occasional headline.”

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Does it surprise him that there appears to be a growing disquiet about the amount MMA athletes are getting paid?

At first, Overeem smiles almost sarcastically as he answers.

“Um, boxers are getting paid more than MMA fighters, right? That’s like a well-known fact.”

Is he surprised that it’s now being called out?

“No, not surprised. It’s just a matter of time, right? Like, I knew I was underpaid, but on the other hand, not in a position to change that, to challenge that, which, you know, it is what it is. And considering I was still making sure I got paid a little bit more.”

Is there a way in which MMA athletes could form a union to invoke change?

“Ultimately, it will be resolved,” he replies. “Ultimately, it has to be resolved because it is unsustainable. Do I know a way forward? No, I do not. On the one hand, UFC has done a great job elevating the sport to these current heights. Yeah, it gave them a certain power.

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“Of course, they will not want to relinquish because power equals money. But, yeah, right now it is out of balance and it is unsustainable. So at some point there’ll come a correction.”

Can the TKO Group take over boxing and run it as they do the UFC and WWE?

“Uncertain to me. I know that some people would like that, would want that, but is that going to happen? I don’t know. I just think that monopoly positions are unsustainable in the long run. I mean, it’s served its purpose, but it’s just unsustainable.”

Alistair Overeem is not just known in pop culture for the big fights he’s had, but for the way in which he’s been described. On “The Joe Rogan Podcast,” referring to Overeem’s physique as one of the most-jacked MMA athletes of all-time, MMA commentator and comedian Rogan famously embraced the nickname Japanese fans gave the fighter after his eye-opening transition to the heavyweight division: “Ubereem.”

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Rogan described Overeem as “saucy as f***” and has routinely linked Overeem to a period in time before USADA testing came about.

Overeem actually was withdrawn from fighting Junior dos Santos in May 2012 at UFC 146 for a high testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio, although the fighter claimed it came from medication a doctor had given him for a rib injury.

“What’s your take on PEDs in MMA? Do you think it’s been a big thing?” Overeem is asked.

“Right now, you saw the testing. So, there’s like a testing protocol that cannot, does not allow PEDs. In that sense, again, UFC has done a great job cleaning up the sport.

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“In the beginning of UFC and MMA, I should say, there has been times that [PED use] has been rampant. Yes, absolutely.”

“Did people ask you, have you ever taken the stuff?” he’s asked.

“No, not really.”

“Did you ever take the stuff?”

“You want to hear my honest opinion?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I don’t have any comment about myself. Let’s just say that in my career, I have done what all the fighters at the time were doing. OK? And, it just became very clear that in the time of USADA, then it was like eliminated, which again is UFC going mainstream, taking the necessary steps, adding a USADA into the mix, which eliminates PED usage.”

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“But people do say the guys who want to beat the tests are ahead of the testers though. You don’t think so?”

“I think the current performance enhancing is this,” he says, pointing to the chamber he is lying in, “is hyperbaric chambers, ice baths, this is all this stuff which is not PED usage, but this is also going to give you benefits. If you’re doing the hyperbaric chamber every day, you’re going to win your fights, believe you me.”

Overeem won plenty of fights as a kickboxer and in MMA. He was the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, DREAM heavyweight champion and the K-1 World Grand Prix champion. He held MMA and kickboxing titles at the same time and, of course, challenged for the UFC heavyweight title in 2016. His record is littered with great opponents, from Chuck Liddell to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Vitor Belfort to Igor Vovchanchyn. That’s before you get to the likes of Fabricio Werdum, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Mirko Cro Cop, Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar.

With little hesitation, Overeem admits it was the quick win over Lesnar in 2011 that is perhaps his most memorable. He sickened the Minnesota monster with knees to his body and, with Lesnar on the deck, whipped in several thunderous right hooks until the referee intervened.

“I get a lot of response [from] the Brock fight,” Overseem states. “I think that was a masterpiece.

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“The body shots with the knee, the beautiful setup. But there have been so many beautiful fights, so many beautiful champions beaten, also some beautiful losses where I got slaughtered and some beautiful comebacks. When I think about my career, it was one big adventure. I would not have wanted to do it any differently. A beautiful adventure.”

To add drama to the Lesnar fight, as quick as it was, a Lesnar jab had opened a cut over Overeem’s right eye and blood dripped into Overeem’s optic, making him a one-eyed fighter.

No matter. It was over at 2:26 of Round 1.

[I’m] not surprised. It’s just a matter of time, right? Like, I knew I was underpaid, but on the other hand, not in a position to change that, to challenge that.

“Wrestlers are physically strong, but they’re not used to absorbing strikes,” Overeem continues.

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“I had this sparring partner in my training camp who was exactly like Brock, physically a strong wrestler, actually standing up a little bit better. And I noticed when I was sparring with him — because I get a lot of confidence from from my simulation, my sparring and my studying — I noticed head strikes that he could absorb in my sparring partner but his body was extremely weak. Just one knee would kind of take him out. So I was like, ‘Hey, there’s weakness there, physically, in this body type.’ Physically, very strong, very athletic, strong neck. I noticed the head strikes were not as effective, and so I kind of made my game plan: ‘I’m going to give him some knees. I’m going to distract him with some punches to the head. I’m going to finish him with the liver kick.’

“Which in the Brock fight, turned out excellent.”

The sparring partner was an old opponent of Overeem’s: Todd Duffee.

In 2021, Overeem was going to face another star who fought out of the Netherlands, kickboxer Rico Verhoeven. Overeem, then still embattled in the trenches with injuries from his career, didn’t make it and the fight was shelved, but he has followed Verhoeven’s career with interest and is clearly delighted at the opportunity Verhoeven has in May, when he will fight Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC heavyweight boxing title in Egypt.

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“I’m very excited for that match. I’ll be there, maybe doing some commentary,” Overeem says.

“Usyk is the undisputed No. 1, special fighter, and Rico is the GLORY champion for 10 years. I’m excited about the matchup and also for Rico, because he didn’t really have opponents in GLORY any more so it was kind of finished, so it was a question of what he would do next. I heard him making some moves toward UFC, but I wouldn’t see any future for him there. It would either be MMA or boxing — I see him having more chance in boxing and for him to challenge the undisputed No. 1, I think it’s beautiful. I think it’s a legacy fight. There’s a lot at stake for him. Props for him pursuing it.”

Does Overeem’s old rival have a shot?

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“In a fight, everybody has a shot,” he says. “And if I look at the weight, Rico will be a lot more heavy. He will come with a plan to win. He’s the underdog but he’s the bigger guy and he’s used to winning his fights. I think it’s a beautiful move. It’s not going to be an easy fight for him, but it’s exciting for him and also for the Netherlands to have a fight on this stage.”

While the Verhoeven fight was one of only a handful that got away from Overeem, the fight the former heavyweight is now most focused on is his longterm health. It is one he is in every day. Having overcome foes from Lesnar to phone addiction, the 2026 version of Overeem considers how things might have been different with the knowledge he has acquired about training, nutrition and recovery.

“I would be undefeated,” he says abruptly.

Really?

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“Yeah, it’s like a lot more knowledge, and also game-changing knowledge. You just understand what decides fights, and there’s so many factors that come into fighting. It’s just not simple, just training, and eating and sleeping, there’s so much more … injury prevention, diet, hot and cold, there’s like a huge impact, even breathwork. But even just your team, your sparring partners, your coaches, your training location, where are you on the planet, where do you prepare — there’s all these different facets and factors. And again, I’m very thankful to the length of my career, that I’ve kind of gotten to understand many of these facets, and also to master them, because if you don’t know them, how are you going to master them?”

Overeem sends a salute down the camera lens from his hyperbaric chamber. Undoubtedly he has more to learn and more to master, on he continues what he calls his big adventure.