Alistair Overeem: I Want to Fight Fedor Emelianenko in April 2010

After beating James Thompson in a Dream 12 squash match Sunday, Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem said he wants his next MMA fight to be against a much, much tougher opponent: The best fighter in MMA, Fedor Emelianenko.

"I want all of you to write this down," Overeem told reporters after the fight against Thompson. "I want to fight Fedor. Alistair Overeem wants to fight Fedor in April 2010. So write that down."

Overeem is turning his attention to kickboxing for the rest of the year: He'll fight in the K-1 World Grand Prix Final on December 5 and then he expects to fight a K-1 rules match in the New Year's Eve Dynamite show. But after that he's going to turn his attention back to MMA, and he said he thinks by April he'll be ready to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world.

Interestingly, Overeem said he'd prefer to fight Fedor in Dream rather than in Strikeforce, even though the Fedor-Overeem fight is one that Strikeforce has said it hopes to promote. Overeem did, however, say he'd be happy to fight for either promotion, and my guess is that if the fight does take place, it'll be a Strikeforce/M-1 Global co-promotion on American soil, televised by CBS or Showtime. And it'll be one of the best fights of 2010.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-25-2009 @ 3:02PM

johnnynumber5 said...

Thats great and all Alistair and we all want to see it but you should be fighting him on November 7th instead of these tomato cans you'v been fighting. Your hand was so hurt that you couldn't fight in SF and defend your title yet you fought 2 weeks later and have fought like 3 fights in 4 weeks.

I think Overeem has as good a chance as anyone to beat Fedor but he isn't winning any points by being inactive for this long. Tony Sylvester? James Thompson? wow color me unimpressed. How about you fight Barnett instead of Thompson?

Hopefully Overeem is being for real this time ... I have the feeling this decision was all about the money. He wanted a fat daddy payday and his leverage would be fighting Fedor.

Get it together Overeem. I think you can beat Fedor if you have your head on straight.

10-25-2009 @ 4:41PM

Juarez said...

Yeah that's a great idea genius fight someone as tough as Barnett after you just fought a week ago and are scheduled for Dec.5th in the K-1 Grand Prix so you are nice and beat up going into the event.
Ever heard of a tune up fight buddy.
I bet money you were one of the people who didn't care or were even aware that Overeem was totally fine to fight in Strikeforce all of last year, but they couldn't find a fight for him so encouraged him to go find work in Japan now that have to wait. Too bad, and quit your bitching eventually he'll be back fighting in Strikeforce at least he's got the option to stay active taking these fights.

10-25-2009 @ 6:37PM

neozoo said...

whoa!
can't wait to see johnny's reply on this one.

go get em.

10-25-2009 @ 11:26PM

Yeah the problem with Overeem is all he takes is tune up fights against nobodies. The guy has a lot of talent but has one of the most protected records in all of MMA. He fight nobodies in Japan where there isn't comprehensive steroid testing. I'd rather not seem him fight at all then fight these cans like Sylvester and Thompson. For christs sake man quit drinking the kool-aid. Overeem is acting like a straight up bitch and he knows it. He may as well fight Hong Man Choi or Jose Canseco and solidify himself as the least relevant yet most talented fighter in MMA. He turned down a fight in SF because of a hand injury ... then goes and fights like 2-3 weeks later in a K-1 match ... must of been a real serious hand injury. riiiiight. Not only that but he fights like 3 times in 4 weeks. Thats more than enough tune up fights.

Whats wrong with you MMA noobs on these boards lately? Between the insane Machida fanboyism of Ted & exp and this place has gotten overrun with idiots lately.

10-26-2009 @ 1:11AM