Man, UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov was tough to watch Saturday night.
Sure, for Alexander Volkov and Cory Sandhagen, the main and co-main events were big-time victories that should propel and position them nicely in the coming months.
But for Alistair Overeem and Frankie Edgar, it was a night to forget.
Overeem and Edgar are both future hall of fame fighters. Their resumes are legendary, and what they have given to the sport will be talked about for years to come.
All of that, however, is in the past.
It is time for both “The Reem” and “The Answer” to ride off into the sunset and into the next part of their careers.
Overeem, who will turn 41 years old later this year, has been through the wars of the heavyweight division for several years now. He appeared to be back to his old ways in wins over Augusto Sakai and Walt Harris, but Volkov exposed him.
Just like Jairzinho Rozenstruik did back in 2019. Curtis Blaydes the year before and Francis Ngannou.
Time has caught up to Overeem, and the new generation of heavyweight fighter is just too much for him to overcome.
The same can be said for Edgar, one of the toughest pound-for-pound athletes the sport has ever produced.
Edgar, 39 years old, has dropped three of his last four with two of those being first round finishes. This for a man who went years without being finished in his career.
Last year, he had troubles putting Pedro Munhoz away. Prior to that, losses to Chan Sung Jung and Max Holloway made it appear as if he was on the doorsteps to being done.
But Edgar returned and did earn a win. Now, he needs to enjoy life and figure out what is next.
It can be extremely difficult for a fighter to walk away, but as fans of the sport, we need to embrace when they make that decision and back it 100 percent.