Alistair Overeem's Royal Blood, the Heavyweight Champion Eats Like a King

What do the K1 heavyweight champion, Dream heavyweight champion and Strikeforce heavyweight champion have in common? Yes, they are all heavyweight fighters, but an even more striking commonality is the fact that all these champions are in fact the same person: Alistair "The Reem" Overeem.

Overeem is one of a few marquee heavyweights in mixed martial arts today and is definitely one of the top acquisitions that came along when Zuffa LLC (parent company of the UFC) purchased Strikeforce a few short weeks ago.

Being a two-sport athlete and having success in both sports is never an easy feat, so when Overeem won the K1 kickboxing championship, there was no doubting his abilities as a kickboxer.

With three titles across two different sports and the inevitable step up in competition now that Strikeforce is under the same parent company as the UFC, Overeem is starting to stake his claim as "King" of the heavyweight divisions in combat sports.

Not only is Overeem a "King" of combat sport, but the Dutchman also has a bloodline that links back to the Royal Family of Oranje, his family tree showing ties with King William III.

Due to Overeem's linkage to the Royal Family of Oranje and his dominance as a sportsman, Overeem became just one of two fighters to have been invited to dine with the family. He had the chance to grab a bite with Prince Willem Alexander who is also the husband of Dutch-Swede Princess Máxima.

The only other fighter privy to the royal treatment was fellow Golden Glory teammate and former K1 heavyweight champion Semmy Schilt.

With the recent Royal dining experience, the frequent media appearances, his popularity in Japan, Holland and North America as well as an appearance in the feature film Amsterdam Heavy scheduled to premiere at Cannes Film Festival in 2011, Overeem is positioning himself to be one of the sport's all-time greats.

For more information on this larger-than-life fighter and a look into the life of a professional athlete you can watch Overeem's documentary at TheReem.com.

Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates: