Valentijn Overeem

Valentijn Overeem (; born 17 August 1976) is a Dutch retired professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional competitor since 1996, he has previously fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, RINGS, KSW, the World Fighting Alliance, K-1, M-1 Global, Its Showtime, World Victory Road, and Strikeforce. He is the older brother of fellow MMA Superstar Alistair Overeem. Overeem has notable wins over fighters such as Randy Couture and Renato Sobral.

Biography Overeem was born in Amersfoort, Utrecht and is associated with the Imperial Athletics gym in Boca Raton, Florida where he trains with his younger brother Alistair. Along with his younger brother, Valentijn spent part of his childhood in England, which is where his brother was born.

RINGS Valentijn was trained at the Chris Dolman gym, where he specialized in kickboxing and sambo before debuting at the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Fighting Network RINGS.

In 1999, Overeem participated in the RINGS King of Kings tournament, but he was submitted and eliminated by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at the first round.

He would perform better at the next edition of the tournament, advancing on the first round after eliminating sambo champion Suren Balachinskiy. Overeem earned a yellow card for holding the ropes to avoid a takedown at one point, but he made up by outstriking Suren and focusing on kicking his injured leg, finishing the match by knee strikes.

Valentijn then advanced further against famed luta livre practitioner Renato Sobral in an upset. Overeem was the superior striker, prompting Sobral to take him down. Overeem looked for a Kimura lock, the Brazilian reversed it into an armbar creating an exchange that ended with Overeem taking by accident an illegal punch to the jaw that almost knocked him out. As Overeem seemed unable to continue, both judges and the referee proposed to stop the match, but Valentijn's corner insisted on continuing. Returning to the fight, Overeem managed to compose himself and take down Babalu by kosoto gake, which the lutador countered by threatening with another armbar from the bottom. This time, however, Overeem captured a leg and quickly transitioned into a toehold, making Sobral tap out.

After eliminating Yoshihisa Yamamoto by armbar in under one minute, Overeem continued advancing, and got another upset by choking out Randy Couture in a failed takedown. The final match of the tournament was against Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, with Overeem submitted once again in the first round.

Strikeforce On 9 June 2010, Overeem signed to fight under the Strikeforce banner. He was scheduled to fight Antônio Silva on 4 December 2010, but suffered an injury that caused him to withdraw from the fight. He eventually made his promotional debut against Ray Sefo at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva on 12 February 2011 where he won in the first round by using a neck crank.

Overeem then returned against Chad Griggs at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum on 18 June 2011, in Dallas, Texas. Overeem lost as he tapped out due to punches.

On 3 August 2011, Golden Glory announced that Overeem had been released from his contract by Strikeforce.

Post-Strikeforce On 25 February, Overeem won his fight against Polish kickboxer and mixed martial artist Marcin Różalski at KSW 18 in Płock, Poland. He replaced injured Jérôme Le Banner and took the fight on 2 days notice. Overeem won by submission (toe hold) in the first round.

Overeem fought in a kickboxing match on 23 February 2013 after 16 years of inactivity as a professional kickboxer where he faced James Wilson, a former professional boxer turned kickboxer. The fight was held in Miami on the debut event of S-1 Challenge, it ended in a No Contest decision due to an unsafe ring as both fighters fell over the ropes with Wilson falling twice.

On 7 December 2013, Overeem fought Mikhail Mokhnatkin at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 14. Overeem lost via KO in the first round.

Overeem faced Konstantin Gluhov in a rematch on 12 April 2014 at PFC 6: Pancrase Fighting Championship 6. Overeem lost by first-round KO.

Overeem would then lose his next bout against Ante Delija via TKO at HOG: House of Gladiators 9 in round one.

In 2013, Overeem featured in the video clip Street Credibility by the Belgian rapper CHG Unfadable.

Championships and accomplishments Fighting Network RINGS RINGS King of Kings 2000 Tournament Runner Up RINGS Free Fight Dutch Heavyweight Champion Durata World Grand Prix Durata World Grand Prix 2003 Tournament Champion

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Ante Delija TKO (punches) HOG: House of Gladiators 9

Dubrovnik, Croatia Loss

Konstantin Gluhov KO (punch) PFC 6: Pancrase Fighting Championship 6

Marseille, France Loss

Mikhail Mokhnatkin TKO (submission to strikes) Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 14

Moscow, Russia Loss

Konstantin Gluhov KO (knee) PFC 5: Clash of the Titans

Marseille, France Loss

Michael Knaap TKO (punches) Beast of the East

Zutphen, Netherlands Loss

Evgeny Erokhin TKO (submission to punches) Pankration: Battle of Empires 2

Khabarovsk, Russia Loss

Michał Kita Submission (guillotine choke) Oktagon Italy

Assago, Italy Win

Marcin Rózalski Submission (heel hook) KSW 18

Płock, Poland Loss

Chad Griggs TKO (submission to punches) Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum

Dallas, United States Win

Ray Sefo Submission (neck crank) Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva

East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States Win

Catalin Zmarandescu KO (knee) K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Bucharest

Bucharest, Romania Win

Tengiz Tedoradze KO (head kick) Pancrase Fighting Championship 2

Marseille, France Loss

Rafal Dabrowski TKO (submission to punches) Beast of the East

Gdynia, Poland Loss

Nikolai Onikienko TKO (doctor stoppage) Ultimate Glory 11: A Decade of Fights

Amsterdam, Netherlands Win

Kazuo Takahashi KO (flying knee) World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 4

Japan Win

Sasa Lazic Submission (kimura) LOTR: Schilt vs. Guelmino

Serbia Loss

Milco Voorn Submission (choke) King of the Ring

Netherlands Loss

Gilbert Yvel Submission (armbar) It's Showtime Boxing & MMA Event 2005 Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Netherlands Loss

Shungo Oyama Submission (toe hold) HERO'S 1

Saitama, Japan Loss

Kresimir Bogdanovic TKO (injury) Ultimate Nokaut 1

Croatia Win

Ross Pointon TKO (elbows) Anarchy Fight Night

England Loss

Dave Dalgliesh KO (punches) 2 Hot 2 Handle

Netherlands Win

Autimio Antonia KO (punches) CFC 1: Cage Carnage

Essex, England Win

Roman Savochka Submission (guillotine choke)

Win

Milco Voorn Submission (side choke)

Win

Andrei Rudakov Submission (arm lock)

Loss

Dave Vader KO (punch) It's Showtime 2003 Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Netherlands Loss

Mikko Rupponen Decision (split) Fight Festival 7

Finland Loss

Ibragim Magomedov TKO (punches) M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 5

Saint Petersburg, Russia Loss

Ron Waterman Submission (keylock) PRIDE 24

Japan Loss

Rodney Glunder TKO (retirement)

Amsterdam, Netherlands Loss

Aaron Brink TKO (punches) WFA 2: Level 2

Nevada, United States Win

Marc Emmanuel TKO (leg kicks)

Netherlands Loss

Igor Vovchanchyn Submission (heel hook) PRIDE 18

Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan Loss

Assuério Silva Submission (heel hook) PRIDE 15

Saitama, Japan Loss

Gary Goodridge TKO (submission to punches) PRIDE 14: Clash of the Titans

Yokohama, Japan Win

Ian Freeman TKO (doctor stoppage)

Netherlands Loss

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Submission (arm-triangle choke)

Win

Randy Couture Submission (guillotine choke)

Win

Yoshihisa Yamamoto Submission (armbar)

Win

Jerrel Venetiaan Submission (heel hook) It's Showtime: Christmas Edition

Haarlem, Netherlands Win

Suren Balachinskiy TKO (strikes)

Win

Renato Sobral Submission (toe hold)

Win

Joe Slick Submission (achilles lock) RINGS: Millennium Combine 3

Osaka, Japan Win

Tuli Kulihaapai Technical Submission (armbar)

Loss

Tommy Sauer KO (punches)

Win

Brad Kohler Submission (kneebar) RINGS: Millennium Combine 2

Tokyo, Japan Win

Fatih Kocamis KO (punch) RINGS Holland: Di Capo Di Tutti Capi

Netherlands Loss

Achmed Labasanov Submission (achilles lock) RINGS Russia: Russia vs. The World

Yekaterinburg, Russia Win

Dennis Reed Technical Submission (guillotine choke) 2 Hot 2 Handle 1

Netherlands Loss

Hiromitsu Kanehara KO (punch) RINGS Holland: There Can Only Be One Champion

Netherlands Loss

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Technical Submission (keylock) RINGS: King of Kings 1999 Block A

Tokyo, Japan Win

Hiromitsu Kanehara TKO (corner stoppage) RINGS: Rise 3rd

Japan Loss

Yoshihisa Yamamoto Submission (armbar) RINGS: Rise 1st

Japan Loss

Gilbert Yvel TKO (shoulder injury) RINGS Holland: Who's the Boss

Netherlands Win

Kiyoshi Tamura Submission (kneebar) RINGS: Fighting Integration II

Osaka, Japan Win

Kenichi Yamamoto TKO (knee) RINGS: Fighting Integration

Japan Win

Dexter Casey Submission (guillotine choke) Night of the Samurai 1

England Win

Chris Haseman Decision (majority) RINGS Holland: The King of Rings

Netherlands Loss

Wataru Sakata Submission (ankle lock) RINGS: Extension Fighting 7

Sapporo, Japan Loss

Mitsuya Nagai Submission (heel hook) Rings: Fighting Extension III

Sendai, Japan Win

Cees Bezems Submission (heel hook) RINGs Holland: Utrecht at War

Netherlands Win

Masayuki Naruse TKO (cut) RINGS Holland: The Final Challenge

Netherlands Loss

Wataru Sakata Submission (armbar) RINGS: Maelstrom V

Osaka, Japan Win

Jeroen Waringa KO (punch) Fight Gala: Mix Fight Night

Netherlands Win

Tjerk Vermanen Submission (rear-naked choke) RINGS Holland: Kings of Martial Arts

Netherlands Kickboxing record