UFC News: Alistair Overeem reveals retirement timeline, Says his career "wouldn't be complete" without UFC gold

Alistair Overeem is one of the longest-tenured veterans in the UFC today. We've seen many of the "old guard" come and go and we've also seen the rise of many new superstars but through it all, the Dutchman has remained steady and on his toes.

Being a veteran who is in the latter stage of the game, it's natural that he has taken a lot of losses and knockouts but it's still impressive that he has 45 wins in his 20-year MMA career.

He's currently on a two-fight win streak following a TKO win over Alexey Olyenik and he was supposed to face Walt Harris this weekend, but due to the Aniah Blanchard case, he understandably had to pull out. He was replaced by Jairzinho Rozenstruik who Overeem is now prepared for and when asked about the end of his career by reporters including MMA Junkie, Overeem had this to say:

“You have to be realistic,” Overeem told reporters at UFC on ESPN 7 open workouts. “For me, two years (left fighting). Maybe a little bit more, maybe less. Probably a little bit more. But then it’s going to be enough. But I do believe you have to stop on time. It is a dangerous profession. We’ve been fighting for 23 years. 23 years ago was the first fight, so with that also we need to be clever.”

He said that his career would "not be complete" without UFC gold:

“My career would not be complete without UFC gold,” Overeem said. “I just need to win my fights. If you win Saturday, I’ll probably have to do one more win then we can make noise for a title shot.”

It's certainly going to be hard for Overeem to get to the top. Francis Ngannou is sitting and patiently waiting for a title shot that he has earned but has to sit out until Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier complete their trilogy.

As for Overeem, a couple of more wins can get him in the picture. However, that's something easier said than done.