The card was held in an empty arena setting and it was a setting that Overeem was fired up about competing in.
“Strange, I was fired up about it,” Overeem told MMA Fighting. “This was fight No. 92. It kind of reminded me of my earlier fights. I have to go all the way back to ‘97 when there were like 200 or fewer people in the audience. This was a little bit different though and I don’t know, it motivated me. During a pandemic, first time, so to me it was very interesting tonight. No audience. Still you got tensions, still you’ve got the nerves going through you fight day. I don’t know but it was different. It was cool. I liked it. I enjoyed it.”
This was the first time in Overeem’s two-plus decade professional combat sports career that he competed in an empty arena setting.
There is no word yet on what is next for Overeem, but unless the coronavirus pandemic becomes a thing of the past in quick fashion, more empty arena events could be in Overeem’s future.
