Biography and Career
Overeem was born in Amersfoort, but now lives in Belgium and is currently associated with the Imperial Athletics gym where he trains with his younger brother Alistair. He holds notable wins over Renato Sobral, Randy Couture and Ray Sefo all by submission.
On 9 June 2010, Valentijn signed to fight under the Strikeforce banner. He was scheduled to fight Antonio 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.
Valentijn then returned against UFC fighter 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.
On 25 February, Valentijn won his fight against Polish kickboxer and mixed maritial artist Marcin Różalski at KSW 18 in Płock, Poland. He replaced injured Jerome Le Banner and took the fight on 2 days notice. Valentijn won by submission (toe hold) in the first round.
Read more about this topic: Valentijn Overeem
Famous quotes containing the words biography and/or career:
“A great biography should, like the close of a great drama, leave behind it a feeling of serenity. We collect into a small bunch the flowers, the few flowers, which brought sweetness into a life, and present it as an offering to an accomplished destiny. It is the dying refrain of a completed song, the final verse of a finished poem.”
—André Maurois (1885–1967)
“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)