"It was presented to Overeem a while ago and he accepted the offer. I signed the contract, came down, and was prepared to fight Overeem. Later, I found out through Overeem's camp that they released a formal announcement that they apologized to myself and my camp and that they would not be accepting the fight. Yesterday was the first time I was told that they didn't feel that I was suitable ... The reality is that they felt that there was too much risk involved in this particular fight. His camp and himself felt that this was not a good position for him, meaning that if he beats me, it wasn't a big victory, and if he loses to me, he had everything to lose ... I think that Overeem did what was best for his career in this particular situation. Like I said, I have no beef with Dream. They've treated me phenomenally, they've kept their word, they've been awesome. I spoke with Ken Pavia at MMA Agents in the past few days, and finding out what's going on, negotiating, trying to find a new opponent, but the reality is that no one wanted to fight me."
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez tells Sherdog.com that he'll be forced to leave Japan without competing at DREAM 15 on July 10. "Suave" was called in to replace Andrei Arlovski against Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem -- who later opted not to participate. Is Rodriguez accurate in his assessment of "Demolition Man's" reasoning? Or should a fighter of Overeem's stature welcome any and all challengers? What's your take?
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