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Alistair Overeem Out of Strikeforce Grand Prix; Replaced by Daniel Cormier

4K views 56 replies 33 participants last post by  kantowrestler 
#1 ·
And just like that Alistair Overeem is out of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The current Strikeforce heavyweight champion has been removed from the tournament and will be replaced by Daniel Cormier, who will now face Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, currently rumored for Sept 10.

The news was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the situation on Monday. Tatame.com first reported the switch.

Overeem stated on Monday that he had been approached to fight on the Sept 10 card, but wasn’t prepared to accept the timing of the bout.

Instead, Overeem will be removed completely from the tournament and will be replaced by undefeated American Kickboxing Academy fighter Daniel Cormier.

Cormier last fought in June on the same card as Overeem where he dominated Jeff Monson for three rounds en route to a lopsided decision win.

The former Olympian will look to keep his record perfect when he takes a dramatic step up in competition to face Silva in September.

As for the future of Alistair Overeem, that remains to be seen. While he is out of the tournament for now, there’s been no word from Zuffa or Strikeforce officials if he will remain in the company or what the recourse for this situation will be.

http://mmaweekly.com/alistair-overeem-out-of-strikeforce-grand-prix-replaced-by-daniel-cormier
Words dont describe how fucked off this makes me..
 
#6 ·
Damn Zuffa, way to screw one of your biggest names in the fighting world over :/

This tournament sounded to good to be true when it was announced, when Zuffa bought SF we got a glimpse of hope for things going smoothly - and then this kinda crap happens :/

Not cool Zuffa, not cool :(
 
#7 ·
Somebody on this forum (who shall remain nameless) broke this story hours before the news websites....

Overeem is still under contract and will fight in Strikeforce again says White:

While Alistair Overeem (35-11 MMA, 3-0 SF) will no longer compete in Strikeforce's heavyweight grand prix, he will compete again under the promotion's banner.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with UFC president Dana White that the Strikeforce heavyweight champion is still under contract with the promotion and will return to action when a nagging tor injury is healed.

"Sept. 10 was the date Showtime wants us to go, so it's the date we've got to go," White said. "It's unfortunate that Alistair is unavailable, but situations like this are why there are alternates in the tournament."

Overeem today revealed on MMA Fighting's "The MMA Hour" that the promotion requested he return to action against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (16-2 MMA, 3-1 SF) on Sept. 10. However, the Dutch striker said he asked for more time and preferred an October booking.

With the company planning for a September event to host the promotion's heavyweight grand prix semifinal bouts, some obvious tension was built. Overeem said the company threatened his release even before today's official announcement.

"What's going to happen next, I don't know," Overeem told MMA Fighting. "I've had some threats of cutting me out of the tournament if I don't participate. I don't know if they're going to do it."

Overeem's publicly stated position was that the Sept. 10 date was too soon to return to action and that he needed time for a broken toe to heal.

MMAjunkie.com learned from several sources that Overeem may be posturing in hopes of better terms on a new contract. It's believed his current Strikeforce deal has just one fight remaining.

However, White declined to comment on any potential ongoing negotiations.

According to the UFC boss, it's simple. Overeem is hurt, but the show must go on.

"Overeem is under contract, and when his pinky toe heals up, we'll get him another fight," White said.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/24461/white-overeem-still-under-contract-with-strikeforce-will-fight-again-when-toe-heals.mma
 
#11 ·
And this is why I don't like tournaments. Injuries (or possibly contract posturing or steroid cycles) ruin the whole thing.

As Budhisten mentioned the bloom came off the rose sometime ago in this tourney. Rescheduling the second half of the first round because Barnett couldn't get licensed in California (and Coker's backup of Japan fell through) really took the momentum of the great first show away. Then the Werdum-Reem abomination took more.
 
#12 ·
Why exactly couldn't Overeem fight in September? Fighting 3 months after your last fight doesn't seem that unreasonable? Hell, their are times Overeem took fights in less then a month from his last match.
 
#14 ·
Broken toe, they want him to fight in less than 3 months. He was to much to lose if he would lose to big foot. On a side note wtf is wrong with zuffa....they lost fedor, now there messing with reem. Wtf are they gonna do if barnett is the tourney winner.
 
#19 ·
Am I missing something? Why are some ppl blaming this on Zuffa when its showtime pushing the date? They are the ones to blame. Showtime said they want it in Sept. And Reem doesnt think he will be ready by then. No blame on him or the shotcallers with the tourny.
 
#21 ·
When i saw this news on a MMA site i was like: "WHAT THE FCUK IS THIS SH*T?!"

Why would ZUFFA screw the tournament?!

Let's be honest: Overeem is SF's biggest star by far. Why would ZUFFA "sabotage" him like this?! It makes no sense...

Anf then --->

Am I missing something? Why are some ppl blaming this on Zuffa when its showtime pushing the date? They are the ones to blame. Showtime said they want it in Sept. And Reem doesnt think he will be ready by then. No blame on him or the shotcallers with the tourny.
Exactly.

ZUFFA may act like they're some "slave masters" or something like this - do this or get the *fcuk out* - but in this case they've inherited a contract signed by SF before they took over.

A contract is a contract - it could hurt them like hell if they were to not respect that contract - financially especially.

And Overeem is right also. If he has an injury and feels he needs more time to heal, he should get the needed time.
WHy risk starting a camp with an injury?! The risk of aggravating the injury is very high.

And the end result would be: less time to find a replacement (for Silva in this case).


But...this whole situation is still bullshit!
 
#22 ·
i dont mind this situation, overeem can face dos santos-cain winner after a tune up fight, cormier will defeat bigfoot and may win it but i think if its barnett he may not and we get some more and better match ups happening
 
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#24 ·
i was excited to see overeem vs bigfoot! and i cant ******* believe this! you cant do 2 ******* cards zuffa ?! or wait! bullshit! i blame zuffa, zuffa is a company that put the blame on the broadcaster! strike force would of pushed for the later day !
 
#31 ·
Overeem has always been a "merchant", but Strikeforce are a joke as a company! How can you even consider "conflict of interests" as an option, when you can lose your Heavyweight Champion and one of your biggest names.. that's why their titles don't mean anything! I mean, yes you have to defend your interests as a company, but the argument here is childish.. you lose your top heavyweight, because he can't compete in the certain date, well change the damn date, why is it so important!?

Well, outside that lame dispute i'm so glad that Cormier will take his place, i have big hopes for him. Aldough it would be a very funny situation if he wins the tournament, and Cain wins his match against JDS.. what then, they are best friends? :D
 
#33 ·
I mean, yes you have to defend your interests as a company, but the argument here is childish.. you lose your top heavyweight, because he can't compete in the certain date, well change the damn date, why is it so important!?
Showtime has the SF broadcast rights, and if SF runs a card on a date that doesn't work for Showtime, I'm pretty sure it doesn't get run and SF doesn't get their check. I haven't seen their contract or anything, but you remember when Coker had to reschedule the second half of the first round of the GP because of Barnett's licensing problems? It was originally scheduled for SF's April 9th show. But it was moved to June 18th. Coincidentally, June 18th was the next Saturday that didn't have a Showtime Boxing event or a UFC event. So it seems like Showtime has a lot of Pull on when SF can hold their events.
 
#32 ·
Now, the SF "tournament" doesn't mean sh*t to me. No Fedor, no Overeem, no Werdum... Only have-been-fighters left + Silva, whom I never liked, and some TOP 30 guy... Terrible!
 
#36 ·
So instead of moving the fight back EVEN a month if they must, they are going to get rid of the only fighter that made the SF Tourny at all interesting?? They might as well cancel this tournament now and just get back to creating normal cards -_-
Or they can put Josh Barnett to fight Kharitov before Overeem has to fight Bigfoot. Im fairly certain Barnett isnt hurt and would be happy to go again.
 
#38 ·
Overeem has held the SF HW title hostage for to long because of outside ambitions and was now talking about boxing. No shit the UFC finally put there foot down. Dream is dying its about time the Reem started to realize that he doesn't hold all the power anymore.
 
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