Alistair Overeem Says Zuffa Threatened to Remove Him From Strikeforce GP

Quote :: Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem
has been a fighter under the Zuffa banner for only a few short months
now, but already the relationship has become a bit strained.

Overeem told Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour that he has not agreed to the proposed Sept. 10 date for the semifinal round of the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix, and his opposition is causing some tension with his new employer.

"That is not going to take place," Overeem told Helwani. "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."

Originally, Overeem said, he agreed on an October return to the cage to
face Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in the next round of the tournament. He
claimed he needed that time to recover from his last fight -- a
three-rounder with Fabricio Werdum in the quarterfinals, which he said he went into with a broken toe -- as well as to properly prepare for Silva.

Recently he was informed that Strikeforce was targeting the date in
early September, which Overeem deemed "too short notice," and rejected.
Then the backlash from his new employers began, he said.

"What's going to happen next, I don't know. I've had some threats of
cutting me out of the tournament if I don't participate. I don't know if
they're going to do it. Personally, I don't like to be threatened. If
people start talking like that then...be my guest, but then I'm really
not going to sing to their tune."

Overeem said he's let his management handle all the negotiations and has
not spoken directly with anyone at Strikeforce or Zuffa on the subject
because he has a "too short temper to deal with people who can be
disrespectful."

This is the first negative experience he's had with the new Strikeforce
owners, Overeem said, but it's one that seems as though it could derail
the relationship early on.

"For them to unilaterally declare, okay, [September 10] is going to be
the second round, which I never agreed on, and then threaten me if I
don't want it, it...doesn't really show a lot of respect," he said.

Overeem added that he was unsure how seriously to take threats that he
could be cut from the tournament, but insisted he wouldn't be pressured
into taking a fight before he felt adequately prepared.

"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."

If he is dropped from the tournament, Overeem said, he still plans to
fight in October. He noted that his Strikeforce contract allows him to
fight in other promotions, so he's already informed his management to
make sure that he has a fight lined up -- either in MMA or even
potentially in K-1 -- for October.

"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."

As for reports that he'd be interested in a boxing match with one of the Klitschko brothers,
Overeem acknowledged that he might need a few warm-up bouts first -- he
currently has zero pro boxing matches to his credit -- but added that
his K-1 experiences had only improved his striking skills for MMA, so
perhaps some boxing experience would do the same.

"Boxing is a new challenge," he said. "Why not?"

MMAFighting

Hey zeus fucking cripes.

Talk about a prima donna stance! Jeez, lowers my respect level for the guy a little thats for sure.

It sounds like he has already made up his mind that he doesn't want to fight in the tournament....like he's trying to find a way out, and having to fight a month earlier than he wants to fight might be just the "out" he was looking for.

Triggerman99 wrote:: It sounds like he has already made up his mind that he doesn't want to fight in the tournament....like he's trying to find a way out, and having to fight a month earlier than he wants to fight might be just the "out" he was looking for.

That's what I'm thinking!

http://mmaweekly.com/alistair-overeem-out-of-strikeforce-grand-prix-replaced-by-daniel-cormier

Ask and you shall receive!

Quote :: And just like that Alistair Overeem is out of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The current Strikeforce heavyweight champion has been removed from the tournament and will be replaced by Daniel Cormier, who will now face Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, currently rumored for Sept 10.
The news was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the situation on Monday. Tatame.com first reported the switch.
Overeem stated on Monday that he had been approached to fight on the Sept 10 card, but wasn’t prepared to accept the timing of the bout.
Instead, Overeem will be removed completely from the tournament and will be replaced by undefeated American Kickboxing Academy fighter Daniel Cormier.

Cormier is no joke! I thought he should have been in the GPX any way, glad to see he got there. Not so glad to see Overeem back out!

I don't think he backed out so much as Dana and co. just called his bluff.

He tried to get cute with Zuffa, and they said fuck you, you're out. We don't play games like your previous boss.

Bigfoot is going to BUTT FUCK Corimer into the light-heavyweight division.

Triggerman99 wrote:: I don't think he backed out so much as Dana and co. just called his bluff.

He tried to get cute with Zuffa, and they said fuck you, you're out. We don't play games like your previous boss.

This is exactly how it went down (IMO). He tried to pull this "I only want to fight once a year" bullshit with Zuffa and they kicked his ass out the door. Good, one less overhyped drama queen to deal with. Adios buddy!

RedEyedKnight wrote:: Bigfoot is going to BUTT FUCK Corimer into the light-heavyweight division.

I'd buy that PPV!

I just don't understand these guys that try to get holier than thou on their employers...yeah, you're all big and bad, and won't be bullied...but um...now you're out of a job. Makes no sense to me.

» Nate Marquardt Back With ZUFFA - Signed To Strikeforce
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