http://mmajunkie.com/news/22085/str...nd-fights-overeems-title-not-up-for-grabs.mma If you were wondering if Alistair Overeem's Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship will be on the line during the upcoming Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, the answer is no. However Strikeforce will be creating a new title, the Heavyweight Grand Prix Championship, which will be fought over in the five-round final bout (other tournament bouts will be three round fights). The wrinkle to this is if Overeem reaches the finals Strikeforce may choose to amalgamate the GP and regular HW championships. If not he remains the champion and will presumably face the winner of the GP at a later date. Strikeforce Pres Scott Coker has made an attempt to demystify the way the tournament is structured and the seeding process in recent weeks but so far this whole thing is still pretty fuzzy, albeit promising. Overeem's been the Strikeforce champ since November of 2007 but has only defended the title once (vs. Brett Rogers in 2010). Strikeforce has been trying to build their brand and put together a competitive heavyweight division in the meantime. Reports suggested Strikeforce and M-1 Global attempted to arrange a title fight between Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko more than once but were stymied in negotiations. The HWGP begins next month in New Jersey when Emelianenko faces Antonio Silva and Sergei Kharitonov faces Andrei Arlovski February 12th. The second half of the quarter-finals is tentatively scheduled for early March and features bouts between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum as well as Brett Rogers and Josh Barnett.
Re: Overeem's title not on the line in grand prix, new title to be created for tourna I hope SF gets their ish together and fights their guys a little more than once every couple years...
Re: Overeem's title not on the line in grand prix, new title to be created for tourna Lmao. Fucking pathetic.