Strikeforce lining up a Lightweight Tournament; Overeem vs. Werdum set for April 9th
Posted on January 29, 2011, 06:41 PM by Joey SantosusAccording to ESPN.com, on the heels of announcing their well-received and highly anticipated Heavyweight Grand Prix, Strikeforce is reportedly working alongside Dream co-producer Real Entertainment to organize an eight-fighter Lightweight Tournament. Expected to kick-off in May, the bracket could feature up to five Strikeforce competitors, possibly including names such as Lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez, Josh Thomson, Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante, KJ Noons, Lyle Beerbohm, Jorge Masvidal or Justin Wilcox, among Japanese superstars Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Katsunori Kikuno.
“We’re committed to keeping our fighters active, but if we can help Dream and have our fighters go over there and participate in their tournament, why not?” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker reasoned. “If things go the way they should, I feel confident we’ll send a bunch of guys over.”
In other news, ESPN.com has also confirmed with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker that the second leg of their Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament will take place on an unofficial April 9th card. While the promotion has not yet ruled out venues in the U.S., Canada, or Brazil, Japan appears to be the likely location for the event, which is expected to feature Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem against Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett squaring off with Brett Rogers, and the return of Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez.
Alistair Overeem has been vocal as of late regarding his desire to test himself against some of the top talents that Strikeforce has to offer and believes the Grand Prix winner should emerge as the number one ranked Heavyweight in the world. First up for "The Demolition Man" will be the rematch with Fabricio Werdum, who submitted Overeem back in 2006. This time however, the "Reem" expects a different outcome.
”It’s always nice to settle the score but I’m a person that looks in the future instead of looking back. The first time we fought I did OK; he was the favorite and was outweighing me. But this time I think we are looking at two different fighters, Werdum has improved but I improved as well, now we will see which fighter have improved more over the years. I think I have enough weapons to finish him standing. My guess is that he wants the fight to go to the ground but the fight starts standing so it will be interesting how this will play out.”
”I agree that Cain Velasquez holds the number one position; he had a very good year and beat the champion in very impressive fashion. Now Cain is sidelined for the rest of the year and having the Strikeforce GP tournament in 2011 there is enough room to take that number one spot. The winner of the GP should be number one in the rankings because I still believe Strikeforce has the best heavyweight division in the world. - For complete interview visit BJPenn.com
The Heavyweight Grand Prix kicks-off on February 12th with the promotion's Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva event, which will be headlined by a quarter-final elimination bout between "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, while former UFC Champion Andrei Arlovski and Sergei Kharitonov will go head to head in the event's co-main attraction.
Source: ESPN.com, BJPenn.com | Photo: Esther Lin
Comments
i have to agree. the winner of this tournament should be the number 1 fighter in the world. going through the likes of overeem, werdum,fedor,barnett,or arlovski.
i dont agree with it....strikeforce has a great HW roster, so the tournament was a stroke of genius, every fight is going to be competitive and the winner will (rightfully) be the no.1 HW, but their LW division is poor....in reality, all of their divisions except HW is quite poor....melendez only fought once this year because they couldnt find a competitive fight for him, and his only actual fight was against aoki who doesnt even fight for strikeforce!
strikeforce dont have the strength in depth to make a non-HW tournament credible, and doing it would be a bad move by coker IMO
the ufc on the other hand could make an epic LW tournament, would you rather have the names mentined above, or edgar maynard pettis guida miller bendo guillard and g-sots? i know what id choose...
Im not convinced that the winner of this tournament should be considered the number 1 Heavyweight in the world. The winner would have to win three fights in the tournament. During that time other fighters Like JDS, Mir, Big Country, Cain when healthy and yes even Brock (although over rated IMO) will not be sitting idle themselves, but fighting thier own fights. In MMA, anything can happen on any given day. That being said...should Arlovski or Brett Rogers or one of the alternate fighters string a few wins together, that in no way makes them the best Heavyweight in the world. The jury is out until we see who wins in what manner and who they beat. The tourney is a great idea but don't anoint anyone quite yet!!
LW tourney sounds cool but I much rather just see Melendez vs Alvarez, Kawajiri vs JZ, Aoki vs Thomson n Fancy Pants vs Noons
Oh n I agree with Reem about Cain being number one rite now but I disagree with the winner of the tourney being number 1 in the world because if AA, Sergie or Rogers win this I can not consider them number one, even Big Foot but if Fedor, Werdum, Barnett or Reem win the case of them being number 1 would be easier
It's tough to say definitively, but in the HW division right now, anyone who can win 3 straight against top competition is likely the best in the world IMO. Even if a guy like Arlovski, Kharatonov or Rogers won (Which in all likeliness won't happen), they may be deserving of a top spot. Think about it, they would have to beat one solid fighter a second better fighter, and a final great fighter. If a guy like Frank Mir beat Nelson, then beat another good HW, then beat the champ, he would probably be #1.
I might come across as a Strikeforce hater but i'm not, I wann see Strikeforce grow so I ask Why Japan ? how many times has Overrem fought in the U.S in the last few years ? seems strange to me the U.S is thier no1 market unless i missed something. Coker qoute ''but if we can help Dream'' Strikeforce need to help themselves and CONSISTENLY put on god fights in the U.S thats all I wanna Fuc**** see from Strikeforce CONSISTENCY.
Am I asking too much ?
The more tournament's the better
'm excited about the Strikeforce HW tournament - it was a brilliant idea.
But as so many have said, you can't consider yourself the best unless you're regularly fighting the best. And the UFC's the organisation where fighters have an opportunity to do that. A dominant performance against someone who's never proven themselves or has dropped out of the top rankings doesn't mean anything.
I'd obviously love to see Fedor win. But Cain's the number one in the world. What he did the other month was phenomenal, and it would be a huge disservice to the sport to claim otherwise.