Alistair Overeem is still wondering why he has not been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and he believes the answer has less to do with his résumé and more to do with Dana White.
Overeem said the exclusion comes down to whether a fighter is on White's “favorite list,” adding that if White likes a fighter, that person gets in, and if he does not, he does not. In Overeem's view, that is why he remains outside the Hall of Fame despite a long run in the UFC and a career that also included championships in Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1.
“I think Dana also knows his stuff, but then it's just, yeah. It just comes down to the ego thing,” Overeem said. He also suggested that some past friction may have played a role, pointing back to earlier negotiations with the UFC.
Why Overeem thinks the door stayed shut
Overeem said talks between his management and Dana White collapsed in 2011 before Lorenzo Fertitta stepped in to close the deal. He later spent roughly three months short of 10 years with the UFC before his run ended in February 2021.
That exit came after he lost to Alexander Volkov and refused a proposed 50% pay reduction. “We want to give you like a pay reduction of 50%,” Overeem said. “I'm like, no. Why would I do that? And then I lost. And then they released me.”
He said the situation was made more unusual because he did not have a personal relationship with White even though he was one of the promotion's higher-paid athletes. “We don't have personal relationship. The guy never, we're not even talking. Which to me is weird,” he said.
Overeem's point is not that he lacks the credentials for Hall of Fame consideration. His record stands at 47 wins and 19 losses, and his UFC resume includes wins over Brock Lesnar and Vitor Belfort. The issue, he said, is that the process feels personal from the outside.
Still, Overeem did not sound consumed by the snub. “Of course, everybody would like to be Hall of Famer. I was with them for 10 years. But if it's not yet, it's not up to me,” he said. He added that he is “not bothered by it” and prefers to keep moving forward.
For now, Overeem's comments turn an old UFC question into a fresh one: how much of Hall of Fame recognition is about results, and how much is about the relationships behind the scenes? In his case, he believes the answer is clear.
