Alistair Overeem opens up about the death of an Ultimate athlete's stepdaughter: 'Sickening'

A. Overeem (photo) mourned the death of W. Harris' stepdaughter. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook UFC

Ultimtate experienced days of mourning in the last week. After the confirmation of the death of Aniah Blanchard, stepdaughter of Walt Harris, heavyweight (up to 120,2kg.) from the company, who had been missing since October, thousands of people were touched by the case and sent messages of support to the fighter. alistair overeem, who was supposed to face Harris in the main fight of UFC Washington, this Saturday (7), commented on the tragedy in the life of his rival in the sport. The statement was made in an interview with 'The Ariel Helwani's MMA Show'.

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“It’s very sad what happened. It's disgusting, actually. He (Walt Harris) is a good, humble guy. I see him as a friend. This news came, I was following it on Twitter. Unfortunately, a few days ago, confirmation came that they found his stepdaughter's body. My heart was broken, it’s going to be a horrible time for him,” said Overeem.

The loss of his stepdaughter came at a time when Walt was going through a great phase in his career. The American hasn't lost in four fights and, in the fight against Overeem, he could, if he wins, get closer to the heavyweight elite.

Harris left the card in November so he could dedicate himself to searching for his wife's daughter. The athlete received support from Ultimate, including the support of Dana White. In this case, the company's representative even offered US$30 (around R$120) to help with investigations into Aniah's disappearance.

After he left the card, Harris ended up being replaced by Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The athlete from Senegal, who recently played in the UFC 244, when he defeated the former heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski, did not hesitate when accepting the challenge against one of the icons of the sport.

Currently, Jairzinho occupies 14th place in the division's ranking, while Alistair is in sixth. A victory over the Dutchman could guarantee a jump to the front line for a chance to fight for the belt in the future.