ZUFFA implements Sudden Death Round to decide Strikefoce Heavyweight Grand Prix draws

Just under a week out from Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum this Saturday in Dallas, Texas, ZUFFA, the promotion's parent company, has announced that any tournament bout declared a draw will now be decided by a fourth and final "sudden death" round.

ZUFFA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner, broke the news to MMAFighting.com on Sunday.

The oringal rules, laid out by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker prior to the start of the tournament, stated that a draw was to be settled by a fourth judge that would select a winner based on "overall performance."  With the additional round now in place, however, the services of a fourth judge will no longer be required.

Tournament match-ups are still to be contested within the standard three-round format, with the exception of the finals, which will be a five-round affair.

The Grand Prix kicked-off with its first round of quarterfinal bouts back in February, with both Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Sergei Kharitonov emerging victorious to advance to the semifinals.  Their opponents will be decided this weekend, as division champ Alistair Overeem meets Fabricio Werdum in the headlining bout and Josh Barnett faces Brett Roger in the co-main event.

Photo: Josh Barnett celebrates his victory over Pedro Rizzo at Affliction's "Banned", a mixed martial arts fight at the Honda Center on July 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California. Francis Specker