Curtis Blaydes is about to get the biggest opportunity of his mixed martial arts career. The rising heavyweight contender is set to compete in his hometown of Chicago at UFC 225 in June and he’s going to take on veteran knockout artist Alistair Overeem.
The UFC made the bout official earlier this week.
Overeem (43–16, one no-contest) is currently ranked as the No. 2 contender in the organization’s heavyweight division behind No. 1 contender Francis Ngannou and reigning champion Stipe Miocic, both of whom he has been knocked out by. The 37-year-old Dutchman is 8-5 in the UFC with all five of his losses coming by way of knockout or TKO. In his latest outing, he was flattened by Ngannou in 82 seconds at UFC 218 in December.
Meanwhile, Blaydes (9-1, 1 NC) recently moved up to No. 5 in the division after a dominant unanimous decision victory over Mark Hunt at UFC 221 in February. Blaydes’s only career loss came in his UFC debut in 2016 when the doctor called a stop to his bout with Ngannou.
A flyweight bout between Joseph Benavidez and Sergio Pettis is also on the card, as has a strawweight matchup between former title challenger Claudia Gadelha and the division’s inaugural champion Carla Esparza.
No main event has been announced for the event, which will take place at the United Center.
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