UFC legend ends four-year hiatus to box on Jake Paul undercard

On 24 December, Alistair Overeem will fight for the first time in five years as he boxes Jimi Manuwa.Overeem, a kickboxing legend and former UFC heavyweight title challenger, will face Manuwa on the undercard of Jake Paul vs Cedric Doumbe in Dubai.The fight will mark Overeem’s boxing debut, and it will take place four years after he last competed, with the the 46-year-old’s most-recent outing coming against Badr Hari in the kickboxing ring.Alistair Overeem was a fan favourite in the UFC after his career as a champion kickboxer (Getty)The result was originally a win for Overeem, but the Dutchman was found to have failed a drug test, thus it was overturned to a no-contest.Against Manuwa, 46, Overeem will be facing a fellow UFC alum who competed at light-heavyweight.Manuwa made his boxing debut in August, stopping Chase Sherman in two rounds, and he will hope to build on that win before YouTube star Paul faces Doumbe – a former kickboxing champion who has more recently fought in mixed martial arts (MMA).“I’ve fought the best in the world, and I’ve been a world champion in multiple disciplines,” Overeem said via a press release on Thursday. “Now I’m starting a new chapter in boxing, and I’m not here to make up the numbers. “Jimi Manuwa is a dangerous man with serious knockout power, but I’ve built my career on taking the toughest challenges in combat sports. I grew up in the Netherlands, but Dubai is my home now, and on Christmas Eve I’m bringing the ‘Demolition Man’ to Coca-Cola Arena. Jimi had better be ready, because I’m coming to put on a show. Once I stop Jimi, Rico Verhoeven is next on my hit list.”Rico Verhoeven (right) protesting the stoppage of his fight with Oleksandr Usyk (Getty)Verhoeven is a compatriot and former training partner of Overeem, and he recently traded kickboxing for boxing, taking on Oleksandr Usyk in May. Verhoeven seemed to be winning the fight but suffered a late, controversial stoppage by the Ukrainian, who was the unified heavyweight champion at the time; and the scorecards were later revealed to be closer than most viewers had expected.Overeem told The Independent in August: “Rico did great, and I was like, ‘Hey, this is a guy I still have a score to settle with. Can’t let him get away.’“Rico is the guy that came after me [in kickboxing], but didn’t really do it, because Glory [Kickboxing] was not big enough and the landscape kind of changed. He also didn’t have the MMA pedigree, so he couldn’t jump ship. Nonetheless, he did a good job in kickboxing – lacking some of the knockouts, though.Overeem last fought in the UFC in 2021, losing to Alexander Volkov (Getty)“So, big guy, great cardio, but a lot of decision wins, so people kind of look at it like he’s like a little bit of a boring heavyweight, even though I could always see the the technical ability. “He’s either he's going to accept or he’s not going to accept, and then he’s going to lose face. It’s amazing how many people stop me in the street [in the Netherlands] and are like: ‘Hey, when is the Rico fight?’ So, it is moving people exactly how I thought it would. [...] I’m talking to the team, and they’re talking about Amsterdam Arena, soccer stadium, 60,000 [people].”