Alistair Overeem wins K-1 Grand Prix
Alistair Overeem won the Strikeforce heavyweight title on Nov. 16, 2007, and has yet to defend it. His first Strikeforce match is May 15, 2010, a non-title defense against Brett Rogers. Credit: Strikeforce
Maybe now we'll be able to see Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem fight on a regular basis in America. Maybe he'll even defend his Strikeforce title more than once every two years.
Overeem on Saturday in Japan won the K-1 World Grand Prix championship, the most prestigious title in kickboxing. That was his goal for a long time, he has said, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker let him go after it. Now, he needs to make Overeem help accomplish Coker's goal: Making Strikeforce a serious counterpart to the dominance of UFC.
Right now, Strikeforce is the only one left with a national appeal. The rest are regional promotions.
In the Grand Prix, a one-night, eight-man tournament, the champion will have three times (as would the runner-up). Overeem's night looked like this:
Quarterfinals: Overeem beats Tyrone Sprong by unanimous decision
Semifinals: Overeem beats Gokhan Saki by first-round TKO.
Final: Overeem beats Peter Aerts by first-round TKO.
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