Meet Alistair Overeem’s Wife Zelina Bexander
David Richardson
Published Mar 29, 2026
Meet Alistair Overeem’s Wife Zelina Bexander
Zelina Bexander and Alistair Overeem have been wed for more than three decades.
Zelina Bexander, the wife of MMA fighter Alistair Overeem, is a well-known Swedish model and social media influencer.
At the moment, Overeem participates in Glory’s heavyweight category. He was the first person to simultaneously hold world titles in both MMA and K-1 kickboxing.
The 42-year-old was previously the heavyweight champion of Dream, K-1 World Grand Prix, and Strikeforce.
In his debut MMA professional match at the age of 19, he defeated Ricardo Fyeet by submission at “It’s Showtime” on October 24, 1999.
Later, in 2022, he won the Pride Fighting Championships fight by TKO over Yusuke Imamura. After that, he fought Hiromitsu Kanehara on Pride Championship 2004 and defeated him through TKO in the second round. At Pride Total Elimination 2005 the next year, he defeated Vitor Belfort in the first round by submission.
Who Is Zelina Bexander?
Zelina Bexander, the wife of Alistair Overeem, is a model.
Model and influencer Zelina Bexander is most known for being the wife of MMA fighter Alistair Overeem. Her husband is a professional boxer who competes in the heavyweight class and has amassed numerous victories and trophies.
For a number of years, Bexander has shown herself to be her husband’s strong ally and protector. The two could be in the same age range or be 2 to 4 years apart in age.
On May 17, 1980, in Hounslow, London, Alistair was born to a Dutch mother and a Jamaican father. He is currently 42 years old.
On the other hand, according to her work biography, Bexander is between 38 and 40 years old. Her parents welcomed her into the world in Gothenburg, Sweden. Nevertheless, her mother is a housewife and her father is reportedly a lawyer.
Like most of her contemporaries, Zelina wanted to grow up to be a well-known model or actress, but her parents pushed her to prioritise her academics above a modelling career.
Instead, she kept herself occupied by engaging in cheerleading and playing soccer in high school. At the University of Gothenburg, she later completed her bachelor’s degree in business management.
Alistair Overeem’s Relationship Timeline
Zelina Bexander and Alistair Overeem have been partners for more than a decade.
Alistair Overeem, a kickboxer, and Zelina Bexander, his longtime partner, are blissfully married. More than ten years had passed since the two started dating.
Alistair and Zelina met in 2011, but the details of how they fell in love are still unknown. As their relationship grew stronger with each passing day, they got married in a little ceremony in front of their loved ones.
Alistair, an MMA fighter, and his date Zelina were seen at Surrender Nightclub at Encore Las Vegas in 2012. They rank among the most well-known duo in the UFC scene.
Similar to this, Zelina is well-known on Instagram, where she once had a profile with more than 100,000 followers. However, it was removed for some reason, so she now uses the @zelinabexander secondary Instagram profile, which is set to private and only has 550 followers.
Bexander, Overeem’s wife, has dabbled in martial arts and is interested in kickboxing. She appears to be in fantastic health and frequently works out in the gym.
The stunning woman loves to travel, and she has visited France, England, and Italy as a result of her modelling job. She has also travelled to numerous states in the US, including New York, California, and North Carolina.
Alistair Overeem’s Children
Alistair Overeem, an MMA fighter, is a devoted father to three children.
The three girls that Alistair Overeem is the father of are Storm, Yazz-ley Rey, and Sensi-Liss Royce.
In the beginning of their relationship, Alistair and Zleina welcomed Storm as their first child on October 17, 2006.
Yass-Ley Rey, his second kid, was born on February 27, 2016, and Sesi-Liss Royce, his youngest daughter, was born in August 2017.
The couple is doing a good job of parenting their girls, showing them a lot of love and care, and they return the favour by supporting him when he is in the ring.
In 2012, the MMA celebrity posted a picture of his daughter Storm on her sixth birthday. Although he frequently posted their photos in the past, they don’t snap many pictures together these days.
Bio of Alistair Overeem
Currently competing in the heavyweight division of Glory is Dutch professional heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980). He was the first fighter to simultaneously hold the world championships in MMA and K-1 kickboxing. He has held the titles of Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, and K-1 World Grand Prix Champion.
In Hounslow, England, Overeem was born to a Jamaican father and a Dutch mother, who is descended from King William III of the Netherlands.
He relocated to the Netherlands with his mother and older brother when he was six years old as a result of his parents’ divorce. In order to protect himself from bullying as a child, Overeem and his older brother Valentijn began learning martial arts. Because of his brother’s success, he made the decision to compete in sports, starting with judo and moving on to track and field and basketball. He entered Chris Dolman’s martial arts school at the age of 15 to pursue a career as a professional fighter, following Valentijn. Initially disliking the sport since he was frequently defeated by more skilled students, Alistair changed his mind after meeting Bas Rutten and Joop Kasteel and began to devote himself totally to training.
Alistair Overeem’s Career in Mixed Martial Arts
At the age of 19, Overeem competed in his first mixed martial arts match, winning by submission against Ricardo Fyeet at It’s Showtime, the first event of the same-named company, on October 24, 1999.
In his Pride Fighting Championships debut on July 20, 2002, Overeem defeated Yusuke Imamura by TKO in just 44 seconds after compiling a 10-3 record in the Fighting Network Rings, M-1, It’s Showtime, and 2 Hot 2 Handle.
Before competing in the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix at Pride Total Elimination 2003 and losing to future UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell in the quarterfinal bout, Overeem won two more fights in the Pride organisation. At the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003, Overeem recovered to defeat Tomohiko Hashimoto in just 36 seconds. At Pride 28, Overeem faced Hiromitsu Kanehara on October 31, 2004, and won by second-round TKO. Antônio Rogério Nogueira of the Brazilian Top Team was the opponent in Overeem’s subsequent loss.
At Pride Total Elimination 2005 in 2005, Overeem competed in the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix and won by submission in the first round over Vitor Belfort, the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. In the quarterfinals of the Pride Critical Countdown 2005, Overeem defeated Igor Vovchanchyn by submission in under two minutes. Overeem was defeated by Maurcio Rua, the eventual winner, in the semifinals.
Overeem faced Sergei Kharitonov, a favourite of the Russian Top Team, in February 2006. In the process of winning, Overeem dislocated Kharitonov’s shoulder. With his victory over Kharitonov, Overeem qualified for the Pride Total Elimination Absolute 2006 Openweight Grand Prix. He competed against Fabrcio Werdum, a specialist in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and was defeated via kimura in the second round.
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Strikeforce Debut
Overeem travelled to San Jose, California, on June 9, 2006, to compete in Strikeforce: Revenge, where he defeated Vitor Belfort by decision.
Back to PRIDE
A month later, Overeem made his highly awaited comeback to PRIDE for his rematch with Antônio Rogério Nogueira. Overeem had his neck severely wrapped when he started the battle. After dominating the first and a half rounds with his striking, Overeem was knocked down by a blow, and Nogueira immediately launched a barrage of strikes. His corner gave up, fearing Overeem would sustain more serious harm.
In the Pride Final Conflict Absolute, Ricardo Arona defeated Overeem. As a result of a non-serious nerve injury sustained as a result of a leg kick, Overeem lost sensation in his foot and leg. Overeem tapped out to stop further harm since he was unable to effectively defend himself or mount an offence against Arona.
After losing by KO to Maurcio Rua at Pride 33, he subsequently made a comeback in June 2007 and defeated Michael Knaap through submission at the K-1 Grand Prix in Amsterdam (despite K-1 being a kickboxing promotion, the bout was fought under MMA rules).
Alistair once more faced Sergei Kharitonov at the Hero’s 10: Middleweight Tournament Final on September 17, 2007. As soon as the first round started, Overeem displayed good movement, but just before the round’s end, he lost via KO.
Go Back to Strikeforce, DREAM, or Dynamite
For the vacant Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship on November 16, 2007, Overeem submitted Paul Buentello through knee strikes.
At DREAM 4 on June 15, 2008, Overeem defeated Lee Tae-Hyun by first-round technical knockout. In the opening round of Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round on July 21, 2008, Overeem submitted former K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Mark Hunt.
His subsequent match took place on September 23, 2008, at Dream 6, against Mirko Cro Cop.
About midway through the first round, the fight was stopped and ruled a no-contest after Overeem repeatedly kneed Cro Cop in the groyne.
According to rumours, Overeem will defend his championship for the first time against Brett Rogers on June 6 at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. However, the fight was called off due to a hand injury. After a fight in a nightclub in early May 2009, Overeem reportedly developed a hand infection, according to Golden Glory manager Bas Boon. Boon claimed that Alistair and his brother Valentijn, both strong men, had gotten into a physical struggle that left five security guards in need of medical attention and almost cost Alistair his hand.
At Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg, Overeem was set to defend his first Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship against Fabrcio Werdum, however he was forced to withdraw due to a hand injury, most likely sustained in his nightclub altercation.
Using a standing guillotine choke, Alistair defeated Tony Sylvester during Golden Glory’s 10-year anniversary party.
Eight days later, at Dream 12, he submitted James Thompson with the same choke.
At Dynamite!! 2009, Overeem was scheduled to take on Andrei Arlovski, but FEG decided to stick with the DREAM vs. Sengoku theme by having him square off against Kazuyuki Fujita.
Overeem swiftly outweighed his adversary and finished him off with a knee to the head.
In order to defend his Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship, Overeem faced Brett Rogers on May 15, 2010, at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery.
In the first round, he obtained a TKO victory. For the second time, Overeem said in his post-fight interview that he wants to face Fedor Emelianenko and that Fedor’s management can no longer ignore him. The majority of Alistair Overeem’s pre-fight training camp took held in Pattaya, Thailand at the recently opened Golden Glory Gym, where “The Demolition Man” focused on honing his Muay Thai abilities.
On December 31, 2010, Todd Duffee and Overeem squared off at Dynamite!! 2010.
19 seconds into the first round, he knocked out Duffee to win the interim DREAM Heavyweight Championship.
Grand Prix of Heavyweights at Strikeforce
Overeem, along with Fedor Emelianenko, Fabrcio Werdum, Sergei Kharitonov, Brett Rogers, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Antônio Silva, and Sergei Kharitonov, was announced as one of eight fighters competing in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix in early 2011.
The 18th of June 2011 saw a rematch between Fabrcio Werdum and myself at Strikeforce: Dallas as a part of an eight-man heavyweight tournament.
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Werdum was defeated by Overeem in a unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 29–28).
Overeem was dropped from the promotion’s 2011 Heavyweight Grand Prix, it was revealed on July 17. Following his victory over Fabrcio Werdum in the quarterfinals on June 18, Overeem continued by saying that he thought the September date was too soon for him to return and that he needed time to relax and heal. Daniel Cormier, an up-and-coming unbeaten fighter, was substituted for Overeem. Following that, it was revealed on July 29 that Overeem had been discharged from the Strikeforce organisation after Zuffa made use of their authority to revoke the final bout of his contract. It was discovered that Overeem’s dismissal from Strikeforce wasn’t because he refused to compete in the Grand Prix semifinals, but rather because of Golden Glory’s rule mandating that fighters be paid any winnings from contests through their management first.
Other Golden Glory athletes with Zuffa contracts, such as former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen, Norwegian UFC heavyweight Jon Olav Einemo, and even Overeem’s brother Valentijn, were also released as a result of this dispute. Leader of Team Golden Glory Bas Boon said he had subsequently altered the rule and that Alistair Overeem might be able to sign an exclusive contract with the UFC provided the necessary conditions are presented, which he later received.
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Fighting Championship Ultimate (2011–2021)
After much speculation, it was revealed on September 6, 2011, that Overeem had signed a deal with the UFC and that his first match will take place on December 30, 2011, at UFC 141, against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.
Overeem made his UFC debut against Brock Lesnar in the main event of UFC 141 on December 30, 2011. Early on, Overeem repeatedly struck Lesnar in the body with knees before finishing the contest at 2:26 of the first round with a kick to the liver and followed punches. He will now face heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos following his victory.
He travelled to Koh Samui in the early months of 2020 with his daughters Yazz-ley Rey and Sensi-Liss Royce, and he posted photos on his Instagram account, @alistairovereem.
Alistair frequently arranges family vacations, and Koh Samui must be their preferred destination.
