MMA great Alistair Overeem lost nearly TWO STONE and fixed his beaten up body by dramatically fasting and giving meat the KO.
Overeem – who started his kickboxing career aged 17 – had nearly 100 bouts across all disciplines.
The Dutchman won titles in both MMA and kickboxing before eventually calling time on his legendary career in 2023 – one year after his final fight.
His body could go no more and Overeem frantically searched for solutions to mend his increasingly battered body.
But when all else failed, Overeem became vegan, and to his surprise felt brand new.
He told SunSport: “A year before that fight I got injured in my lower back.
“There was a lot of ice baths, lot of physical therapy but after the fight it just popped back up.
“It was a very nasty injury, after my last fight I tried to get back into a fight camp but my body just didn’t want to do it anymore.
“As a last resort, I turned to veganism, so no more animal protein and something good happened, I tried it for a year and a half and my body healed and the muscle mass went.
“That did take me out of fighting, after that there was no desire to go back into fighting but it did heal me.”
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Overeem, now 45, lost over 10kg after going vegan but admits to gaining it back after marrying wife Sophie in May.
The former UFC heavyweight – while not fighting anymore – keeps in shape with brutal ice baths and gruelling fasting periods.
He said: “I got married last May, then I was heavy again! I’m experimenting a lot, that’s kind of what I’m known for.
“I experiment things but what I do now is fasting regularly. There’s a lot of benefits, I’ve done five days, dry fasting three days. It’s amazing.”
Overeem speaks happily from the sidelines, refusing to even entertain a big-money move into boxing like other MMA stars before him.
He said at Brave 100 in Bahrain: “I’m out of the stress. Fighting is stress.
“The lead ups, the training camps are stress, competing and fighting is extreme stress.
“It’s been a wonderful, magnificent journey, I’ve seen the world. But now it’s time to step away from that. That’s where I’ve been the last three years.
“Transitioning out of fighting is easier said than done, fighting was so fantastic for me but now I’ve had my share of battles. It’s time to help others win their battles.”
