Todd Duffee vs. Alistair Overeem is still in works for Dynamite!! 2010 (Updated)
Posted on December 22, 2010, 05:45 PM by Daniel CassidyWith a proposed bout between Alistair Overeem and Bobby Lashley now dead and buried, "The Reem" was left searching for an opponent. But just a few short hours ago, rumours surfaced of a potential fight with Former UFC Heavyweight Todd Duffee.
Reports were quick to surface that an agreement was possible, with both sides locked in tense negotiations earlier today, and it looks like the fight will go ahead with Duffee releasing the following message via his Facebook account:
“Have no plans on NYE? Dream Dynamite 2010: Duffee VS Overeem on HDnet!!!”
While this bout would be Duffee's first return to MMA since he lost his job in the UFC, the Heavyweight fighter still holds a respectable 6-1 record. He went 1-1 under the UFC banner, defeating Tim Hague in just 7 seconds, earning the title of the UFC's "fastest KO". Following that, he lost a fight against Mike Russow that saw the veteran take a vicious beating before delivering an epic third round knockout, causing a major upset. Duffee was subsequently released from the UFC with Dana White blaming attitude problems for the parting of ways.
Interestingly, 2010 was a year Overeem proved his dominance to the world. From his total dismantling of Brett Rogers back in May, to then winning this year's K-1 tournament. The 33-11 Strikeforce Champion is certain to compete at the New Years Eve show, even without Duffee, should a suitable opponent be found.
As well as this, K-1 have also addeda pro wrestling bout between Bob Sapp and Shinichi Suzukawa, set will be held under Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) rules.
Update:
According to a story on AroundTheOctagon.com, the fight against Alistair Overeem has been called off after Todd Duffee snubbed FEG's proposal:
Todd Duffee and DREAM officials had a verbal agreement in place for him to face Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem at Dream Dynamite 2010 on New Years Eve. But when he received the contract this morning the money wasn’t right and Duffee decided to pass on the fight. ATO learned of the situation earlier today through a source close to Duffee.
Duffee will face TUF 10 alum Titan Fighting Championship January 29th in Kansas City.
Overeem will still compete on the card and face an opponent that has yet to be announced.
MiddleEasy.com did a further research on the topic, and here's what they found out:
It has been reported that Todd Duffee has accepted the offer to fight Alistair Overeem (mainly for the loot, cant blame him). The amount offered to Duffee is allegedly in the amount of $60,000 just to show and another undisclosed lump sum if he wins. According to Jonathan Luther, Todd Duffee is in Japan and he may run into problems obtaining a visa, which can obviously hinder the process of fighting in Japan exponentially. Nothing has officially been announced, but if Duffee can get a visa, expect an announcement from Japan's general direction immediately.
So in conclusion, no one really knows if Alistair Overeem vs. Todd Duffee will go through in Japan. The clock is ticking for FEG to find a suitable opponent for Alistair Overeem, who is without any shadow of doubt is currently one of the most marketable figures in Japanese MMA scene since Fedor Emelianenko. Ricco Rodriguez and Jeff Monson were rumored to square off against "The Demolition Man" a long time ago, and could serve as worthy replacements for Todd Duffee.
Update #2:
Direct from MMA Weekly:
Alistair Overeem finally knows who he will be facing on the card. His opponent? Former UFC prospect Todd Duffee.
...MMA Fighting has confirmed with multiple sources close to the bout that both parties have officially agreed to the fight... FEG is only expected to officially announce the fight sometime after Christmas.
So there you have it folks, it's (almost) official, Alistair Overeem will fight Todd Duffee on New Years Eve at the world famous Saitama Super Arena, but first ever DREAM Heavyweight title will not be on the line.
Photo: Esther Lin
Comments
class fight, duffees a guy wholl get in ur face and hit you hard, so this will be an interesting test for overeem....the LHW reem used to wilt a bit under pressure (shogun fight, lil nog fight etc) so this will be an excellent way to find out if things have changed
Jerome Le Banner is making his MMA debut??!!! WTF!! I can't wait for this card....
i was just thinking the same thing.. thought for a second i had read something wrong and duffee was making his k1 debut lol
He's fought MMA rules before.
JLB has fought under MMA rules a number of times, his current record is 3-1-1, including a win over Akiyama and a draw with Bob Sapp.
Duffee is capable of KOing Overeem who doesnt have the best chin especially with those 4oz gloves but I think Overeem will take this one
@partboy. im not sure he is the right calibre though. duffee maybe able to get in the face of mike russow and hit him a lot but doing the same to reem is completely different. He has just beaten the best guys from k-1 which are better strikers than duffee will ever be. Shogun and lil nog were a long time ago, and at 205. Reem is different now, more experienced, different weight, very confident, different mental state and duffee is not in the league of shogun. Reem still uses his knees to great effect but he he is able to bully people with his strength(rogers fight) and he hits loads harder. I see this fight over fast.
Duffee will get DESTROYED! Alistair looks better than ever, he's in better shape and a better fighter than he was in Pride. Overeem via 1st round TKO!
i cant see overeem losing this one.. he looked epic in the k1 tournament beating the likes of saki along the way who all have a much higher level of striking than duffee.
they are not even in the same league
Duffee doesn't have the best chin either, and Overeem's level of striking is much higher. Overeem will KO Duffee, and quickly.
You contradict yourself every time you say something about an upcoming fight, is that so you can be "right" no matter what the outcome?
I don't think Alistair has been kod or even rocked since he moved up to HW. That extra big neck he has now may be preventing that. Personally, I don't think Duffy has much of a chance against Overeem. The dude just won K-1 and Duffy is a striker.
@ichokepeople - reem has been ko'd since his move to hw in k1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHWGnB1bln4&feature=related
sorry TKO'd
@Proxy...being KO'd or TKO'd in K1 isnt a big deal like 99% of K1 fighters have been KO'd or TKO'd but Overeem has been KO'd since his move to HW by Kharitonov
i totally agree, i was just correcting ichokepeople. his k1 record is pretty damn impressive
Cool, Thanks. Do you know what year that was?
@IChokePeople...A long time ago it was his like 2nd fight after Pride bought by UFC so like 3 yrs or so ago
it was actually in the 2009 k1 GP semi finals. but your point is still a good one, should be a win for overroid
Well if u r talking about me then Im just stating the different possibilities....Duffee can KO Overeem but the way Overeem is fighting lately n his K-1 experience it will b harder for Duffee to catch him and Overeem will most likley do wat he did to Rogers...pick him apart on the feet n then take it to the ground n win via GNP but u can't ignore the possibility that Duffee with those 4oz gloves n his punching power can KO Overeem who has been KO'd multiple times
This is a great card! looking good. I think Duffee will pose a bigger threat to Reem than Lashley would of. And you never know, Duffee could bag a quick KO. But I still have to go with Reem on this one!
The Reem VS Todd Duffee sounds really good to me.
biggest opportunity ever for Duffee, maybe its a blessing to him that the UFC gace him the cut. He would of never had an opporuntiy to fight a top 5 heavyweight in the UFC without at least 3 consecutive wins. I hope he does well, win or lose.
except reem isn't a top 5 heavyweight...and here come the weaks :P regardless of that though a win over overeem would certainly put duffee on the map, but at the moment he'd be doing well just to make it out of the 1st round
WTF.....Are SF and M1 so stupid???? they always complain about how not Overeem and Fedor fight have no time to fight yet they make Overeem fight a nobody out of the blue...C'mon!!!!!! If Werdum and Fedor dont want to fight then why not Fedor Vs Overeem??? Who the F@@K wants to see Overeem Vs Duffee?.... Fedor and Overeem need to fight for a title at some point. Who has Duffee beat to get a shot at Obereem? is that how limited the SF HW division is that a nobody can fight a top guy like Overeem? lol....STUPID STUPID!!!!!! you are!!! lol
They are not fighting in Strikeforce!
LOL
Good job though to SF and M1 for making people forget about the Fedor VS Overeem fight that was supposed to happen though..lol
SF and M1 don't dictate who Overeem fights in Dream, so complaining about them in this forum is STUPID. Overeem will kill whoever they put against him, bet on it.
dude you cant confirm he is fighting overeem that comment he made on facebook... he deleted it....i also read somewhere else he declined the bout because dream wasn't offering enough money
This card is INSANE !!!!! How the hell they got THESE guys all on the SAME CARD with one week left is ****in BEYOND my comprehension.
This is a miracle card. UFC has great cards but even they've never pulled together something this big. There's no HUGE fights on the card but every single one is pretty ****in solid.
I'm jacked for this event, talk about a good start for MMA in 2011 !
kids gonna get wrecked. Overeem needs to start fighting for SF where hes champ and theres actual competition! 1 title defense in 3 years are you kidding me!?
Not exactly a huge challenge, but if Duffee wins then it's yet another LOL for the heavyweight division and another "omg he sucks now!"For people who have the memory of a goldfish.
hahaa totally agree with that. and i bet if duffee beats overeem he'll suddenly appear in everybody's top 10 list. such a joke.
If duffee beats him then he's on the p4p list for sure...because overeem got there by beating brett rogers and thats about the only person he's fought that was close to the top ten....
But that all makes sense.
yup. doesn't even make sense how overeem is on p4p, he hasn't beaten any credible opponent at heavyweight
Even though I'd rather see him face Werdum or Fedor, I am happy with this fight. Duffee is a guy Dana and Rogan were hyping up before he got cut - I wanna see how he does.
Duffee must not have gotten over the concussion from the last fight.
Either that or he has a deathwish.
duffee would get dismantle.
Overeem suposed to fight Werdum or Fedor i think he is so scared of Fedor he moved to Japan for good
Thats a pretty dumb analogy, Werdum was laid off via injury. He isn't going to be back until mid2011. However with Fedor i dont know whats happening
Overeem KOs Duffee in the first round. The kid doesn't stand a chance. Talk about being thrown to the wolves. Say what you want about the UFC, but they would not have allowed this to happen.....and that's a good thing.
More like being thrown to the dragons. I think this is a good opertunity for Todd, he gets a shot at fighting a legend and if he wins he would get shot up in the rankings really high.....but that isn't likely
theres a difference between a guy with heavy hands a k-1 WORLD CHAMPION... ubereem is going to knock duffe out in R2 after a short feeling out process.
theres a difference between a guy with heavy hands a k-1 WORLD CHAMPION... ubereem is going to knock duffe out in R2 after a short feeling out process.
This better be true, this will show if the fighters outside of the UFC can handle UFC talent
I think Duffee might on the other side of fastest knock out in promotion history this time...
looking forward to watching Kyotaro vs. Mousasi
I can't understand why anybody should think that duffee is a threat for overeem. a guy with 7 fights against a veteran and champion with 46 mma and 14 K1 fights? I think Overeem will win easily. but this card is really awesome.
R.I.P. Todd Duffee
because werdum beat fedor, thus earning him the fight with overeem.
Overeem first round KO
i will PAY OUT 4 THIS FIGHT!
You wonder why Japanese MMA has no credibility. I understand the fight might be exciting, until Duffee dies in the ring...
***FLAME SHIELD ON***
i just hope it happens!
This fight is just so awsome! Think about it, these 2 big behemoths going at it trying to knock eachother out. It will be in a ring too which makes it even more awsome. If it doesnt happen I will cry.. I mean it.
Duffee's gonna get ****ing dead.
Nice grammar......
maybe it's uberreem vs dufee: in a bodybuilding contest!
If Overeem loses Dana's going to say I told you so. But I think Overeem would win by destroying Duffee with leg kicks and knees and destroy him like he did to Peter Aerts.
And if Overeem wins Dana White will say that he's no good because we cut Duffee. Lose lose situation for Overeem.
That is assuming that Overeem cares what Dana says/thinks.
Maybe not Overeem. But the "general (non-hardcore)" fans will. Dana will keep this ball rolling. It's funny that most knowledgeable MMA fans know that Dana is full of !@$^ most of the time but some people keep buying it and consuming not knowing much about fighters outside the UFC. Thats why we need other promotions, because of Dana White, he's the reason he has competition, it's all backwards if you ask me.
It's a catch 22 isn't it? The general fans will pay for better branding and side show fights which is not necessarily good for the sport and yet without them the sport probably wouldn't have gotten big enough to evolve the way it has from a technical perspective.
This should be a bad ass fight, a couple of steroid freaks beating the hell out of each other, gotta go with Overoid by KO
What a fight, what a card!
I remember a couple months ago the president of the DREAM organization said Japanese MMA organizations will take over, at the time I laughed, and I'm still kind of chuckling, but if they put cards like this out, who knows, things may get very interesting, forcing US promotions to put more extravagant super fights.
Overeems the Strikeforce heavyweight champ and the winner of this years K1, i wonder if he wins the Dream HW title aswell, would that finally be enough for Dana white to accept the fact that he is definatly a top 10 fighter?
good call
I don't think Dana even recognises the Strikeforce championship title (probably the same for the Dream titles) so his stance wouldnt differ that much
He could win em all and Dana would still call him overrated, but as soon as his contract expires, DW will be trying to lock him down. Such a snake bastard.
the fact he's K-1 champ has absolutely nothing to do with his mma standing. 2 seperate sports with seperate participants and he hasn't fought mma since the rogers fight
This fight will be entirely a stand up war, cant wait!! Let's see Overeem's K1 skills.
that ****in baby chin duffee better make this shit happen!
Duffee has a good chance, but I see Reem knocking him senseless
duffy would have to be a tard to stand with riodnreem (maybe im givin him the benifit of the doubt) we havent really seen duffys wrestling supposidly its pretty good i see duffy shooting then gettin gnped or submitted this is not gonna stay on the feet "duffman cant breath...oh no!
Nice matchup, two good strikers with knockout power! OFC "the Reem" has the advantage here, apart for his world class striking skills which were showcased on the K-1 WGP, people seem to forget he is a good grappler, probably he will clinch with Duffee and either make him eat a knee or just throw him down and beat him. Duffee is a promising fighter but he still has a lot to learn before he can face someone with the skill set and experience of Overeem. Overeems camp knows that, thats why they accepted this fight in the first place because the reem has nothing to gain (besides the money ofc) and much to loose. Duffee also knows is probably going to loose as well but his a money "biatch", thats why he was cut from the UFC in the first place...
The card seems very entertaining as Japanases cards tend to be, but the fact theyre making weird matchups with even weirder rules kind of makes things less interesting to me (not to mention Bob Sapp fighting and in a pro-wrestling bout for that matter...). In Japan, its all about the show, the masks, the bright lights and all and to me they resemble WWE to some degree. I love MMA as a sport, the ranks, the hard work and training. Fighters taking fights in short notice, changing opponents all the times, weak training camps, thats a downside to this event for sure. Im sure the card will have good names and they will deliver fun fights to watch, but you cant, by any chance, compare this to a UFC card, the level of competition and preparation is on a different universe really...