Alistair Overeem Open to Signing Exclusive Contract with UFC

Quote :

According to Golden Glory co-owner Bas Boon, they ironed out all of
their payment and sponsorship issues with Zuffa, LLC attorneys when
heavyweight John Olav Einemo committed to competing at UFC 131
in June. Boon states “we did not have a choice and never said we would
not fight in the future or that we would refuse to work” if Zuffa went
against the Dutch management company’s long-standing policy of getting
paid directly.

“The Zuffa lawyer explained that the fighters could open an account
at a bank were the UFC did their banking and the check would clear in
only two days instead of 6 weeks till 8 weeks (that’s how long it takes
to clear a check in a foreign country which was also an issue for some
of the fighters) and they could then transfer the amount to the final
destination at their choice,” Boon expressed in a statement released
Thursday.

“The reason that the Golden Glory management company is doing this
business for the GG fighters for over 12 years with payment directly to
the management company is for the benefit of the fighters, coaches and
trainers are paid on time and the management company will take care of
bookkeeper and taxes and exchange rates and legal help for the
fighters.”

Prior to Zuffa’s March acquisition of Strikeforce, Boon claims Golden
Glory received payments directly from Strikeforce on behalf of their
clients without issue. Although much has changed within MMA’s landscape
since the purchase, GG was more than willing to roll with the punches –
which included Zuffa’s strict sponsorship rules where “if you can
sponsor the fighter, you should sponsor the organization first.”

“I understand this from a business point of [view], but some
companies can’t [afford] to pay 100K or more to an organization,” Boon
said. “We just wanted the things as they were before, but it was far
from what it was before. The payment was done how the UFC wanted and
again we agreed and did the same as in Vancouver [for UFC 131], so that
matter was solved, so I do not understand why [UFC president Dana White] claims we did not agree?

“Maybe there is a miscommunication and Dana was not well informed
that the direct payment issue was solved and no longer an issue.”

Over the last couple of weeks, GG fighters Alistair Overeem, his brother Valentijn , Marloes Coenen as well as Einemo
were all fired from the world’s premier MMA promotion for the alleged
misunderstanding. Now that the Dutch management group has shared their
side of the story, Boon is hoping he’ll be able to bring his prized
possession to the Octagon.

“We just want to be able to produce great fighters and create great
fights for the fans, we have no intention for co-promotion deals and are
even willing to make an exclusive deal for Alistair Overeem to fight in
the UFC, if the terms are right,” he expressed.

Overeem owns an impressive 35-11 (1 NC) mixed martial arts resume. He
hasn’t lost a fight since September 2007, rattling off 10 consecutive
wins during his current run.

Source

If Overeem were to sign with the UFC who would you like to see him against?

This situation is just bizarre...someone's not coming clean here. Regardless of who it is they need to man the fuck up and come to an agreement so we can get Reem fighting real competition.

I'd say since he's the SF champ, have him fight the winner of JDS/Velazquez. There's no clear next contender after that fight anyway so why not? Christ, they're considering giving the winner of Schaub/Nog a shot so they obviously have no good contenders.

Yeah, I agree with ya. No matter who the title holder is, that match up will be better than any other option the UFC has right now.

Overeem would bring a couple of interesting fights to the UFC but I really dont know if he could sustain a significant win pattern against real competition. Oh well lets sort the mess out and see what happens.