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Ultimate Fighting Championship
Martial ArtsMixed Martial Arts

UFC: Alistair Overeem opens up on heartbreak for Walt Harris over Aniah Blanchard death

  • Overeem discusses his emotions as tragedy unfolded, with UFC Washington fight against Harris cancelled
  • ‘I met him when we did our little mini PR tour two months ago, super cool guy, he instantly became a friend’

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This undated file photo released by police in Auburn, Alabama, shows Aniah Blanchard. Human remains discovered in a wooded area have been confirmed as belonging to Blanchard, a missing college student who was the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris. Photo: AP
Nicolas Atkin

Alistair Overeem has opened up on his heartbreak for Walt Harris after their UFC Washington fight set for this weekend was cancelled.

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Harris’ stepdaughter, Aniah Blanchard, went missing on October 23, and he withdrew from UFC on ESPN 7 early in November as police continued their search for the 19-year-old Auburn college student. Jairzinho Rozenstruik stepped in as a replacement to fight Overeem for Saturday’s card.

Authorities confirmed that remains found in a wooded area in Macon County, Alabama, last week were those of Blanchard, and the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion expressed his condolences to Harris at Wednesday’s media scrum.

“You don’t really think that something that bad happens,” he said. “Somebody is missing, but then days go by, two days, three days and hey it’s not resolved yet. I was following it very much, there were bits and pieces of information coming out. It’s just very sad how it came to a conclusion. it just escalated from bad to worse.

“My heart goes out to Walt and his family. I met him here two months ago when we did our little mini PR tour, and tickets went on sale. Super cool guy, he instantly became a friend. You don’t wish that on anybody.

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