Strikeforce announced its long-rumored September 10 event on Monday, including a middleweight title fight between champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Luke Rockhold, but Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva is now in doubt for the Showtime-televised event.
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals, featuring Overeem vs. Silva and Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Khaitonov, were recently reported to be scheduled for the event.
However, Overeem told MMAFighting that he would not agree to face Silva on the card and instead plans to fight in October, which was reportedly met with threats from Zuffa to remove the Strikeforce heavyweight champion from the tournament.
As a result, he has since been informed that the show will likely go on with or without him.
"That is not going to take place," Overeem insisted. "Stikeforce has requested me to accept the fight for Sept. 10, to agree on that, but I have not agreed on it and I also had some emails, some questions asked, is the fight confirmed? No, the fight is not confirmed. I do not confirm it and I will not confirm it."
Overeem was last seen taking a unanimous decision over Fabricio Werdum in June. Though the performance was considered lackluster by many, it was enough to earn the champ a ticket to the next round, where he is expected to face Silva for a spot in the final.
The conflict, according to "The Reem," is a lack of preparation time for such an important fight. Overeem went on to explain that he'd broken his toe during last month's quarterfinal match-up and has been inactive for much of the time since.
"The fights that I've lost - I'm not the guy going for excuses, I blame myself. That is where this decision is coming from. I don't want to blame myself. What I do now is, I do my homework. I make sure everything is perfect, and then I fight. With that formula I've had some great results in the last four years, and I'm not prepared to throw that all away because people pressure me. I don't like to be pressured."
While never officially confirmed, rumors have indicated that the eventual Grand Prix winner could be looking at a trip to the world's largest MMA promotion, where they would challenge for the UFC Heavyweight strap. A prize that significantly raises the stakes for many fighters competing for smaller organizations.
As for what's next for the champ, he's created some buzz as of late by expressing interest in pursuing a professional boxing career, even possibly challenging one of the Klitschko brothers. If dropped from the tournament, Overeem says he still intends to compete in October, whether it's in MMA or elswhere.
"The thing is, there's other promotions. There's other stuff I can do. K-1's going to come back. There's some good reports on that. There's some other promotions in the world that would love to have me fight. So for me, the respect thing is definitely a factor and it's definitely important."
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Overeem on life after the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix:
"The UFC or maybe boxing... I think (boxing) matches my personality. I'm always looking for a challenge. That came about fighting for K-1 and becoming K-1 Champion - something nobody ever did before. It would be cool to go to boxing and beat the main guy there. I know if you gave me good preparation and good sparring partners, which I can arrange, and with my background already in kickboxing, the K-1 background, I'm sure I can break some bones."