Overeem released by Strikeforce

MrStuffins

Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem's run with the organization apparently is over.

Officials have released the heavyweight kingpin from Strikeforce's roster, according to a report from HDNet's "Inside MMA" show.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed the release with a source close to the fighter. Officials reportedly exercised their right to eliminate the one remaining fight on his contract.

As MMAjunkie.com reported earlier this week, Overeem (35-11 MMA, 3-0 SF) recently withdrew from the organization's eight-man heavyweight grand prix. Overeem, who defeated Fabricio Werdum in an opening-round matchup back in June, was slated to fight Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in the semifinals. However, when Showtime and Strikeforce officials were forced to move the event from October to a Sept. 10 show scheduled for Cincinnati, Overeem said he wouldn't be ready due to a broken toe.

According to "Inside MMA," Overeem, though, also is dealing with a broken rib and injured elbow.

Nevertheless, Overeem recently was booked for an October kickboxing event as part of a United Glory event in his native Netherlands.

As MMAjunkie.com reported at the time of the booking, sources said Overeem was in the process of working out a new contract with the promotion, which may have contributed to his unwillingness to compete for Strikeforce in September. It may also explain his recently expressed desire to challenge champion boxers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko in a boxing contest – a strategy similar to the one Nick Diaz used to leverage his Strikeforce title into a shot at the UFC's welterweight belt.

Daniel Cormier ultimately took Overeem's spot in the tournament. Overeem's future now appears uncertain.

One thing is for sure, though. Now that the UFC's parent company owns Strikeforce, Overeem's chances of competing in either of the world's two most recognizable promotions are virtually nonexistent if the release is due to ill will. Barring a surprise move to the UFC, Overeem is going to be the sport's top free agent – but one far too expensive for most organizations to afford.

Overeem, who hasn't been defeated in four years and his past 11 fights, won the Strikeforce belt in 2007 and defended the title just once (against Brett Rogers) during his reign. The run included numerous overseas fights for other organizations, as well as an active K-1 kickboxing career.

Looks like they'll crown a new HW Champion in the final of the HW Grand Prix.

For me though, it has to be Silva. If I was Strikeforce, I wouldnt want Barnett, Sergei and certainly not Cormier as my Champion. Overeem is a legit top HW!

Mellor

Surprised at this, given Dana's comments that he wasn't released. Be interesting to see what happens here.

weemcd

The Reem episode 5 covers this period, good watch if anyone is interested in what Overeem has to say on the situation. I'm sure more news will come through over the next few days, would like to know the official line from Strikeforce/Zuffa. Crazy turn of events.

dave1982

Mellor wrote: »

Surprised at this, given Dana's comments that he wasn't released

haha

when can you ever believe Dana.


Was probably in the post as he was saying it

Sid_Justice

Is this Dana laying down the law and saying nobody calls the shot but him and if you step out of line he can cut you like that?

is he fast tracking overeem out of strikeforce and into ufc?

is this retaliation for signing on world victory road (reminiscent of how dana fired bj after he fought in k1)

at the end of the day overeem doesn't have many places to go, belator and bamma might be ok for someone like marquadt but overeem needs to be in strikeforce or ufc. even k1 looks shaky now.

I think overeem is the 2nd best hw out there (second to fedor of course) and it would be a shame if this bollox side lined him or kept him out of big fights.

MrStuffins

Although Zuffa own Strikeforce, I get the impression this was not a Dana decision and a decision taken by the lads at Strikeforce.

Although maybe i'm wrong?

Logical Fallacy

MrStuffins wrote: »

Although Zuffa own Strikeforce, I get the impression this was not a Dana decision and a decision taken by the lads at Strikeforce.

Although maybe i'm wrong?

Strikeforce is obvious changing now it's under the Zuffa. They basically let the Reem get away with too much **** for too long.

For Zuffa the Champs work hard and the reward is earning the big cash...Ubereem wanted the former without the later imho.

stevemc01

Everyone is always so eager to bash Dana. It's not his fault.

Overeem won the SF H/W Title in 2007. He has fought for them twice since and has bailed on the GP.

Thats not acceptable. He needed a wake up call and maybe this is it.

weemcd

As usual with MMA there is going to be 2 versions of the "truth" with the reality somewhere in between. Overeem has stated he was injured, and he has the proof to back this up. The problem here is Showtime wanted both GP fights for the September card, he said he wanted to fight in October, which he is doing, for another organisation. History has shown us that Zuffa (Dana White, the UFC banner, whatever you want to call it) do not approve of fighters fighting for outside organisations. Dana said at the Bones - Rampage press conference that Reem was still under contract and would fight when he was fit and ready, the situation was not ideal, but no mention of him being cut from the organisation. Since then negotiations between the two parties have obviously worsened, culminating in Reem being cut.

The big question now is, if Reem's exile is entirley self inflicted, will this be a permanent one. I am sure he was lining up another spell in K1 where he has had great success in the past 18 months or so. Perhaps participating in K1 in particular, along with other organisations was important to Reem personally, and financially, and in the choice between the K1 fights, Dream and the Golden Glory promotion he is signed to fight on Vs UFC, he decided the former was best. I always thought Reem's extra-cirrucular activites would be a point of contention, should it ever come to him dealing with Zuffa. Realistically though, he did not have a legitimate heavyweight fight this year within the Strikeforce banner, and there isn't much for him on the UFC side of things currently as a crossover. Strange and complex run of events.

calex71

weemcd wrote: »

As usual with MMA there is going to be 2 versions of the "truth" with the reality somewhere in between. Overeem has stated he was injured, and he has the proof to back this up. The problem here is Showtime wanted both GP fights for the September card, he said he wanted to fight in October, which he is doing, for another organisation. History has shown us that Zuffa (Dana White, the UFC banner, whatever you want to call it) do not approve of fighters fighting for outside organisations. Dana said at the Bones - Rampage press conference that Reem was still under contract and would fight when he was fit and ready, the situation was not ideal, but no mention of him being cut from the organisation. Since then negotiations between the two parties have obviously worsened, culminating in Reem being cut.

The big question now is, if Reem's exile is entirley self inflicted, will this be a permanent one. I am sure he was lining up another spell in K1 where he has had great success in the past 18 months or so. Perhaps participating in K1 in particular, along with other organisations was important to Reem personally, and financially, and in the choice between the K1 fights, Dream and the Golden Glory promotion he is signed to fight on Vs UFC, he decided the former was best. I always thought Reem's extra-cirrucular activites would be a point of contention, should it ever come to him dealing with Zuffa. Realistically though, he did not have a legitimate heavyweight fight this year within the Strikeforce banner, and there isn't much for him on the UFC side of things currently as a crossover. Strange and complex run of events.

Has there been an announcement regards a HW K1 GP I haven't heard about????? The way they are looking last time I checked was not good, the early rounds of the GP have traditionally been well underway by now.

weemcd

The company has recently been bought over, there was mention the GP would be every 2 years now if I remember correctly, but I can't find the link now. I'll try and find the one I was looking at.

/edit here we go:
http://www.mmalinx.com/k-1-sold-to-japanese-real-estate-firm-barbizon/

Ishii recently revealed that the new K-1 will hold a Heavyweight World GP every two years rather than the annual tournament that has been running since 1993. There will also be more of a focus on making this new K-1 appeal to a global audience. Until now, Japan has hosted every K-1 World GP Final.

1 For next year then

calex71

weemcd wrote: »

The company has recently been bought over, there was mention the GP would be every 2 years now if I remember correctly, but I can't find the link now. I'll try and find the one I was looking at.

Ah thats a bummer, was something I looked forward to.

Though from what I see most of the active K1 names are involved in upcoming It's Showtime events, have the recent one from poland to watch here tonight.

Am I right to think that setanta show those over here live?

weemcd

I edited the last post to include the link, no HW GP action this year. I don't think I ever had the privilege of watching the events live, usually I caught them on some of the euro satellite channels after the event and online sources. Hopefully they can get the company back on track after what has obviously been a terrible year and broadcast events from next year on we have a chance of watching.

calex71

weemcd wrote: »

I edited the last post to include the link, no HW GP action this year. I don't think I ever had the privilege of watching the events live, usually I caught them on some of the euro satellite channels after the event and online sources. Hopefully they can get the company back on track after what has obviously been a terrible year and broadcast events from next year on we have a chance of watching.

Lets hope so , crazy given that most of the big names are european that it doesn't have a bigger audience here, let's hope they do something to change that.

Anyway enough of me being well off topic here

Mellor

MrStuffins wrote: »

Although Zuffa own Strikeforce, I get the impression this was not a Dana decision and a decision taken by the lads at Strikeforce.

Although maybe i'm wrong?

This is what I thought too.
The decision to pull him from the HW GP was by SF and not Zuffa

DrPhilG

Don't have a problem with this. Reem may be a top HW, (looked far from it in his last fight though) but he's been allowed to be his own boss for too long. Not defending the title in years, flitting around from one promotion to the other etc.

If he's injured and can't make the date he gets replaced. End of story. If he threw a strop at that and was cut, fair enough.

weemcd

The phrase cutting off your nose to spite your face reminds me of Strikeforce here, they really should be holding on to fighters, not cutting them. Even if Reem was a pain in the ass he is one of the few names they had with a public draw, he could have fought the winner of the GP. Diaz is UFC bound, Hendo is up in the air contract wise, and if Fedor ever fights again his aura of invincibility has been taken away, selling his fights on a 3 fight loss streak is alot tougher now.

DrPhilG

weemcd wrote: »

The phrase cutting off your nose to spite your face reminds me of Strikeforce here, they really should be holding on to fighters, not cutting them.

You're assuming that there's a hope in hell that Strikeforce will continue as a separate entity?

Can't see it myself. HW title vacant, WW title vacant, LHW champ out of contract and now quite a valuable commodity for the UFC, LW champ has admitted he would be willing to vacate in order to make the same move as Diaz.

In fact...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=73586036#post73586036

weemcd

DrPhilG wrote: »

You're assuming that there's a hope in hell that Strikeforce will continue as a separate entity?

Can't see it myself. HW title vacant, WW title vacant, LHW champ out of contract and now quite a valuable commodity for the UFC, LW champ has admitted he would be willing to vacate in order to make the same move as Diaz.

In fact...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=73586036#post73586036

Very fair point, I always assumed that in 2-3 years time Strikeforce would fold, perhaps it is just likely to happen sooner. It's a a pity, I do like their production, their commentary staff like Mauro Ranallo, Bas & Frank Shamrock. The first two could probably find a role within UFC, but there is not a chance in hell we will ever see Frank back in the UFC ranks. Bellator is really the only viable promotion to watch in the US if you want some variety. Other than that, it's difficult to catch promotions like DREAM, I always like the option to watch something else, particularly if there isn't a UFC card that interests you for a month or two.

calex71

weemcd wrote: »

Very fair point, I always assumed that in 2-3 years time Strikeforce would fold, perhaps it is just likely to happen sooner. It's a a pity, I do like their production, their commentary staff like Mauro Ranallo, Bas & Frank Shamrock. The first two could probably find a role within UFC, but there is not a chance in hell we will ever see Frank back in the UFC ranks. Bellator is really the only viable promotion to watch in the US if you want some variety. Other than that, it's difficult to catch promotions like DREAM, I always like the option to watch something else, particularly if there isn't a UFC card that interests you for a month or two.

The strikeforce challengers shows have been quite good of late and I would be sorry to see those go, I guess they are akin to fight nights but with more at stake sometimes, also SF is the only major stage for women in mma , slim as the pickings are, UFC will never have female bouts I think :mad:

So I totally agree with you , always good to have something else to watch.

the_doctor199

Valentijn has now been cut, tough week to be an Overeem!

Richy06

Along with Marloes Coenen and Jon Olav Einemo. What have each of these fighters got in common? All are from Golden Glory. I can understand Valentijn but not the other two. Stinks of the usual Zuffa grudge holding!

weemcd

Coenen goes from being womans champ, to cut from the organisation in less than 7 days, that is a pretty low move from Zuffa/whoever was in charge. All becoming very personal in the Overeem situation.

Sid_Justice

*****

maybe this means cage contender can sign overeem to fight ricco

Martin Walker

Its not the first time that Golden Glory have pissed off and been dumped by a promotion. I remember it happening a few years ago and id say this is for similar reasons. Money.
Fair enough tho this time they seem to have pissed of the biggest promotion in the world. Id say this will lead to Overeem becoming the next Fedor. I.E going on fighting and winning but no-one ever knowing how he would fair on the big show.

riffmongous

weemcd wrote: »

Coenen goes from being womans champ, to cut from the organisation in less than 7 days, that is a pretty low move from Zuffa/whoever was in charge. All becoming very personal in the Overeem situation.

Effectively kills the womens division, and between the top 4 they had enough potential fights and rematches to keep it going for a while.