Alistair Overeem conducted a 50-hour science observation to help his coaches kick an underdiscussed addiction

EXCLUSIVE: Alistair Overeem has battled it out with an array of the most intimidating men to have ever walked the face of the Earth.

However, the knockout artist hasn’t just faced battles inside the cage, but outside of it as well, with the icon opening up about his triumph over a problem that threatened to take over his life.

Alistair Overeem conducted an observation to help his coaches beat phone addiction

In his remarkable career, Alistair Overeem proved himself as one of the greatest strikers to have ever graced the world of combat sports, writing his name in the kickboxing history books by claiming the K1 championship before moving over to MMA, where he annihilated Brock Lesnar in one of the most brutal displays the UFC heavyweight division has ever seen.

Alas, while the fans know ‘The Demolition Man’ for the slick performances he produced on fight night, behind the scenes, the athlete has had to deal with an issue that’s plagued his life— phone addiction.

The issue slowly spiraled, with the powerhouse spending hours on an endless cycle of scrolling. To make matters worse, he noticed that his coaches were suffering from the same thing, and thus, decided to conduct an observation to help them all kick the habit.

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In an exclusive interview with Sporf, the 45-year-old explained: “I was a little bit annoyed. I had my training camp in Albuquerque. I was flying in coaches, and everybody was constantly on their phones, during dinner, lunch, before and after training. I was also guilty of it, but I could observe it, and I didn’t like it. So, I ordered a box for everyone to put their phones in.

“I made interesting observations. I saw detox symptoms; people were a little bit more agitated. I also noticed the chemistry at the dinner table was improved. We were interacting more because the phones were not available. It was quite an interesting observation, but it’s not a detox, because that’s 21 days, and we didn’t know that at the time. We did it for 50 hours, which is not enough, but their awareness of the problem of the phone usage was detected.”

How Alistair Overeem beat his phone addiction

Despite the enlightening experiment, Overeem’s journey wasn’t over yet, with the superstar determined to break his habit once and for all.

During his time inside both the ring and cage, the esteemed competitor proved himself to be much more than a mere brawler, showcasing a tremendous fight IQ as he picked apart his opponents with beautifully executed shots before landing that all-important KO blow.

With extensive experience of crafting game plans during fight camp, he applied the same logic to phone addiction, putting together a strategy that helped him triumph over the very thing that had for so long held him back.

The warrior explained: “I was in the UFC for ten years, and I would say in the second half, the phone usage became problematic. At the time, I didn’t really realise or understand how much it would impact me. Right now, I can say, the phone usage is detrimental to your awareness, energy and motivation. I detoxed myself because I was fed up with it. I also saw my daughter facing a depression, which I was able to link to phone usage. I detoxed myself with a simple schedule of 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening, but no more.

“After 21 days, that gave me a huge increase in wellbeing and awareness. I studied the topic, ordered books, started experiments with friends, getting them to drop their phones, and it created an understanding of phone addiction, which has become a problem in the world right now. A lot of parents have messaged me to say that their children are dealing with that. It took me four years — now my daughter is off the phone, and realises the difference that it makes. That’s the nature of the addiction. The phone is slowly messing you up, but you’re not aware of it. You will be aware of it if you drop it for three weeks.

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