Alistair Overeem courtesy of Strikeforce
While shocking, the news isn’t entirely unexpected, especially when considering the recent heat between he and Strikeforce’s parent company ZUFFA over his inability to compete in the next round of the once highly touted Heavyweight Grand Prix(subsequently resulting in Daniel Cormier replacing the champ in his much anticipated bout with Antonio Silva).
This past week it was confirmed that in lieu of the September Strikeforce match which he would not be competing in, Overeem would return to action the following month in an expected MMA Glory World Series bout against an as-yet unnamed opponent. Despite sources pointing out that lingering injuries might be far worse than some are suggesting, taking on another fight in the face of such a high profile entanglement with Strikeforce does seem like a bit of a retaliatory slap in the face to the promotion.
To reiterate an idea which passed last week when it was announced that Overeem was being pulled from the Grand Prix,
“Unless ZUFFA intends on reworking Overeem’s contract and introducing him to the UFC’s roster with a Nick Diaz-type move, their decision to boldly eliminate him from the Grand Prix remains questionable. At this point in time, allowing Overeem to walk from the company and compete for any number of international promotions would seem an unwise decision, especially with so much interest bounding around the potential for superfights which could be made with the current Strikeforce champion.”
With one fight left on his Strikeforce contract and potentially two Grand Prix bouts remaining for Overeem, there was an obvious imbalance in bargaining weight in terms of locking the fighter down, had he made it to the finals. This alone caused significant feedback aimed at a potential “real” reason behind ‘Reem being replaced on the card. At this point in time with this chapter of his career under ZUFFA apparently over, we’re only left more questions than we had before as speculation will once again drive theories about not only his potential future in the UFC and abroad, but the future of Strikeforce as a whole, seeing as though the company’s roster is once again one champion lighter. Until anything is confirmed though, everything that’s bounced around is simply that: speculation.
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