The 65-fight veteran, who celebrated his 40th birthday just past midnight, had to survive an early scare against Walt Harris before staging a huge comeback with a devastating head kick that spelled the beginning of the end in the UFC on ESPN 8 main event.
The end came at 3:00 in the second round after Overeem put Harris followed up his head kick with a punch that put Harris down and a barrage of shots on the ground finally forced referee Dan Miragliotta to stop the contest.
It was a chaotic few weeks for Overeem, who traveled back and forth between his home in the Netherlands to the United States along with a fight postponement before finally getting the win on Saturday night.