Alistair Overeem saddened by Aniah Blanchard tragedy, would give Walt Harris a hug if he saw him

WASHINGTON – Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris should have been squaring off in the UFC on ESPN 7 headliner Saturday night.

But tragedy struck when Harris’ 19-year-old stepdaughter, Aniah Blanchard, went missing. As the search for Blanchard grew longer and longer in duration, Harris made the decision to pull out of the fight.

After weeks of searching, Blanchard’s remains were found Nov. 25. Law enforcement officials allege she was kidnapped at a gas station in Alabama by Iraheem Yazeed, who then shot and killed the college student. Two other arrests were also made in connection with the alleged murder.

Saturday, Overeem (45-17 MMA, 10-6 UFC) will still compete in the UFC on ESPN 7 main event against replacement opponent Jairzinho Rozenstruik (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

At Thursday’s media day, Overeem spoke about the tragedy and wished Harris and the rest of Blanchard’s family well. With three daughters of his own, the tragedy hit home for Overeem.

“It’s awful what happened to Walt,” Overeem said. “I was following it every day – the little bits and pieces coming out. Usually, I’d go on Twitter to follow it. It’s really bad. It’s a really bad situation. I have three daughters, myself. So yeah – no words.”

What would Overeem say to Harris if he were at UFC DC?

“I would give him a hug. What can you say to anyone? I can’t really say anything to that. It’s awful, the situation.”

Despite being touched by the tragedy, Overeem said he was able to stay focused. Like any other matchup replacement, Overeem needed to reassess the new task at hand.

“It changed my focus in the sense that my opponent changed,” Overeem said. “Of course you follow the news. But let’s not forget: It’s not my child; it’s not my relative. It’s a little bit further away from me. But still, you’re like, ‘Hey this (expletive) really happens.’ I went into the statistics and this stuff happens kind of often, too. It’s sad. It’s a really bad thing. I don’t know how to fix that.”

UFC on ESPN 7 takes place Saturday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Check out MMA Junkie’s full UFC DC pre-fight media day interview with Overeem in the video above.