Strikeforce MMA has perhaps found an opponent for its heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem (29-11), according to Sports1140.com, setting up the Dutchman to take on undefeated former Elite XC standout, Brett Rogers (9-0), in a featured match on the promotion's "Lawler vs. Shields" card, which is set for the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., on June 6.
It's important to note that company officials could not confirm the showdown between the two feared strikers at press time; however, it was also not ruled out entirely, meaning it could (or could not) be announced shortly.
"The Demolition Man" captured the Strikeforce belt with a second round submission win over Paul Buentello back in 2007 after repeated knees to the body forced "The Headhunter" to tap out. However, Overeem has yet to defend his title since that time, fighting primarily over in Japan for the past two years.
Most recently, Overeem has been dabbling in K-1 kickboxing events and doing quite well against some of the best in the business. His most recent mixed martial arts action was against 43-year old accomplished kickboxer and UFC veteran, Gary Goodridge, at a Glory MMA show in front of his own countrymen in Arnhem, Netherlands, last November. Overeem won that bout via first round submission (kimura).
A little over a month prior to that, he was possibly getting the best of former Pride FC open weight grand prix winner Mirko Cro Cop in a heavyweight tilt on the DREAM 6 card before the bout had to be stopped and ruled a no contest because of repeated unintentional (albeit illegal) groin strikes from Overeem.
"The Grim" will be taking a serious step up in competition level for this fight. Overeem is more experienced and more accomplished than any of the nine men who have stepped in the cage with Rogers throughout his career thus far.
The Minneapolis Team Bison product has stormed through those nine men rather easily, too, finishing each of them with strikes. In fact, only once, in his most recent victory over Ron "Abongo" Humphrey on the Strikeforce: "Shamrock vs. Diaz" card earlier this month, has the knockout artist faced an opponent who has survived beyond the first round.
It'll be a short turnaround for Rogers -- less than two months to be exact -- but he went nearly a full year without competing following his win over Jon Murphy under the Elite XC banner last May. He's more than likely hungry to get as many fights under his belt as he can in 2009.
At 260 pounds, Grim should have a decent size advantage over the champion in this fight. Both fighters measure in at 6'5," but Overeem -- who used to compete as a light heavyweight -- will probably be about 30 pounds lighter than the challenger on fight night. That's something Rogers will undoubtedly look to use to his advantage.
Here's a snip from an interview he did with MMAFighting.com about the match up:
"With Overeem, with him I think it would be a little more exciting because he wants to stand with me. He’s kind of a fast spunky kind of dude, that’s what I’ve been seeing off of his videos. He’s a dangerous fighter on the ground (in that) he can fight off of his back, too, so I ain’t gonna sleep on him when it comes to that. But he’s definitely going to have some problems with the weight. He’s gotta pump it up a little bit or I’ll lay on his ass, put that weight on him, tire him out."
The event will be headlined by a match-up of the last reigning Elite XC middleweight champion "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler and the only man to ever hold the Elite XC welterweight title, Jake Shields. In addition, a special 180-pound catchweight fight between Nick Diaz and Scott Smith was also just recently announced.
Strikeforce: "Lawler vs. Shields" will air live on the premium cable network Showtime on fight night, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Stay dialed in to MMAmania.com before, during and after the show for all the Strikeforce event coverage you can handle.
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