Overeem Committed to K-1 Until Early April
December 24, 2009
Steven Marrocco of MMAWeekly sheds some interesting light on the fighting and contract status of Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem:
In January, the promotion secured Overeem to a one-year, three-fight deal, obligating him to a return in lieu of an informal talent-sharing agreement with K-1 that saw him snag the title in November 2007.
Overeem, who was forced to pull out of two scheduled Strikeforce events in June and August with a serious hand injury, is scheduled to appear against Kazuyuki Fujita at K-1 Dynamite on New Year’s Eve – his fifth K-1 fight in 2009 – and is planning a sixth in late March/early April 2010.
That was grim news to those expecting a showdown between Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko under the CBS eye in April. More confounding was that it was Overeem asking to fight the Russian after sacking James Thompson at Dream 12.
“Alistair Overeem wants to fight Fedor in April 2010,” the Dutchman said after the Oct. 25 fight. “So write that down.”
And while Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told MMAWeekly.com he would invite the champion to participate on the promotion’s second CBS card in April, his manager said the K-1 opportunity – the final fight on his contract with the Japanese promotion – is too good to pass up.
“I never said he wasn’t fighting in April,” Overeem manager Bas Boon told MMAWeekly.com. “What I said was there will be a fight by the end of March or April in K-1, and actually, he did very well in K-1 and he’s got an extremely good contract. Commercial-wise, it’s better for him, and we agreed to this already on K-1, that we will do that fight. After that fight, he will fight in Strikeforce. Two, three times, whatever is available in May, June, July, we don’t care.”
Boon said Overeem could make a late April date if he wasn’t injured, but doubted Coker would agree to promote a fight under those circumstances. He said the hand injuries extended the time on his Strikeforce contract, but did not say for how long.
For now, it was time to strike when the iron was hot.
“(Golden Glory) has a 10-year relationship with Alistair, and we told him that this is a better way to work for him,” said Boon. “Think about it, man, he’s broadcast in 150 countries (on K-1). Right now, he’s got more sponsors than he ever had before. In his own country, he had a crazy rating during the Grand Prix, but also on EuroSport and also in Thailand. And this is where the UFC isn’t even broadcast. UFC is not even broadcast in Europe. Nobody knows about the UFC. Semmy Schilt and Alistair Overeem are gods there. You’re talking about a continent with 280 million people.
“(American fans) have to understand, man, to fight Badr Hari, Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts, Texeira, and again, Badr Hari, these are the top strikers in the world. If there would be any Americans wanting to win $400,000 or $500,000 in U.S., which is big money, why are they not there? Why are they not in K-1?”
Payout Perspective:
Herein lies the issue with non-exclusive contracts: not only does Strikeforce have to compete for fighters entering the entertainment business, but it’s also got to compete for the time and booking of its own fighters with other organizations. For as much as the contract type helps the organization secure new talent, it’s also managed to put two of Strikeforce’s divisions on hold for the better part of the last two years.
It’s tough to fault Overeem for taking the money and the exposure in Europe; the latter of which might really pay off for M-1 if and when it comes time to promote a Fedor vs. Overeem fight internationally.
However, given that Overeem only signed a one-year, three-fight contract — and that it has already been extended — you have to wonder for how many more fights he’ll remain in the organization. Depending on the type of extension that has already been applied to his contract, it’s conceivable that he could leave Strikeforce without defending the belt against Fedor. Worse still, he could beat Fedor and then walk – leaving Strikeforce in a very bad position.
Dream vs. Sengoku on NYE
November 25, 2009
It was officially announced earlier today that Dream and Sengoku will come together on December 31st to promote a mega show in Japan underneath the Dynamite!! banner.
Sherdog’s Tony Loiseleur with the latest:
World Victory Road’s Sengoku Raiden Championships will contribute fighters to Fighting and Entertainment Group’s Dynamite event on New Years Eve at the Super Saitama Arena. FEG president Sadaharu Tanigawa and World Victory Road representative Sumio Inamura confirmed the cooperative effort at a joint press conference on Wednesday at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel.
Beyond planning for five to seven bouts dedicated to the Dream-Sengoku crossover theme on Dynamite’s 19-fight bill, no concrete details have been hashed out yet, said FEG’s Tanigawa and Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara. Fighters participating in the collaboration, as well as rules and weight classes the fights will follow are currently under negotiation between the two promotions.
Perhaps most importantly for the Japanese audience, one of those bouts will likely pair Beijing Olympics gold medalist Satoshi Ishii’s MMA debut against Barcelona Olympics judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida, in what would have been Sengoku’s headliner for their apparently now-canceled New Year’s Eve effort.
Nightmare of the Battle has more:
FEG’s Tanigawa said that he himself proposed this union event. They started discussing since the end of October. He also said that he doesn’t know what will happen with the FieLDS sponsorship next year.
The WVR GM said that the current plan for the next SRC event is March. The fighters participating will be the fighters who have fought there until now.
Sasahara said that there will be 18-19 fights on NYE, and there will also be fights between DREAM fighters so it’s not only SENGOKU vs. DREAM on the MMA side. Kawajiri and KID couldn’t attend the press conference because they were out on other business.
About SENGOKU only fights (besides Ishii vs. Yoshida) the WVR GM said that it’s yet to be decided if there will be any.
Misaki’s participation is also yet to be decided. There will be a meeting about if his suspension will be lifted or not. Misaki himself said: “I want to obey the instruction of the SENGOKU side.”
There will be foreign fighters competing as well, but the Japanese fighters will be the focus.
Tanigawa wants to match the champions with each other. The rules might depend on the fight.
About a future merger, Tanigawa said that Dynamite!! is mainly TBS’s event so there’s nothing like that.
The plan is for a double main event but Masato’s fight will probably be last since they’ll have a retirement ceremony after the fight. The event will start at 3 PM.
Payout Perspective
There are currently many doubts as to whether Sengoku will continue to operate as a separate entity in the New Year. It likely depends upon a number of things, but chiefly: how well the NYE event goes and how well the two organizations are able to work together. If they find a great deal of success, they’ll likely continue to run joint-events.
And, really, it’s quite a shame to see the current state of Japanese MMA in such disarray. However, out of turmoil comes opportunity, and these two organizations now have the chance to start a new. They can use the publicity from this announcement to generate some real interest in the event to come. Keep a close eye on the forthcoming announcements, because the fights obviously play a key role in bringing two organizations together like this – if you’re going to have a mega show, you need mega fights.
I’ll also throw in another angle here, and that’s from the perspective of the UFC. They’ve once again established a television deal in Japan, and they’ve made no secret about their intent to hold another card in that market. Dwindling competition may present an opportunity for the UFC to move into the Japanese MMA market a little faster than expected.
Yet, it’s necessary to mention the caveat, here: if MMA continues to struggle in Japan, might its lack of visibility hurt the entrance – or at least make it much more difficult – for a foreign competitor like the UFC? Likewise, if Japanese companies are currently hurting, what about the UFC product is going to make it that much more successful? It’s an interesting angle.
HDNet Fights Presents: FieLDS K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Yokohama
March 27, 2009
Event to be broadcast LIVE from Japan, Saturday, March 28 at 1:00 a.m. PT
WHAT: HDNet will broadcast LIVE coverage of “HDNet Fights Presents: FieLDS K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Yokohama.” This is the first event in 2009 of the much anticipated K-1 World Grand Prix. HDNet’s partnership kicked off late last year with the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals and features the best kickboxers in the world. LIVE coverage of this event will include, Alistair Overeem v. Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts v. Errol Zimmerman, Jerome Le Banner v. Ewerton Teixeira, and a four-man, one night tournament for the K-1 Heavyweight Title featuring Melvin Manhoef.
WHEN: Saturday, March 28 at 1:00 a.m. PT with an encore presentation on Saturday, March 28 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
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