ECONOMICS AT HEART OF OVEREEM'S STRIKEFORCE DELAY
New postby lefthook07 on Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:22 pm
Hardcore American MMA fans have torn out a lot of hair over Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem’s stateside absence.
It’s been over two years since the Dutch fighter triumphed over Paul Buentello to win the first Strikeforce heavyweight strap at “Four Men Enter, One Man Survives,” an abrupt turnaround to a 1-4 slide near the end of Pride Fighting Championships.
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?”
Boon believed delaying the Fedor fight would be good for Strikeforce's business, anyway.
“I don’t see the point in immediately fighting Fedor,” he said. “It seems Scott doesn’t want to do that as well. I think he first wants to put us against whoever and build up a pay-per-view.”
There are indications that Overeem has punched his last delay ticket. Following Strikeforce: Evolution on Saturday, Coker said if the fighter did not fight in Strikeforce by mid-2010, he would evaluate his options regarding Overeem’s title status.
"I understand Americans look at America as the number one country in the world, but we also have stadiums with 20,000 people and broadcasted live on TV all over Europe and in a lot of different countries," said Boon.
"Worldwide, (Alistair) gained a lot more popularity, financially he got a lot better off, and that doesn’t mean we’re not going to be obliged to our contract with Strikeforce. Yes, he’s going to fight in 2010, and it will not be mid, but it will be earlier in the year. In May, for sure, he will fight in America. It just depends on the date."
mut pakko sanoa että onpas hauska avatar kuva japilla:hyvä:
.... Kuka tietää... Aldo on kyllä niin käsittämätön tyyppi, että voisi olla kovakin vastus BJ:lle... Ja eikös Aldosta ole sanottu, että on paljon parempi matossa, kuin pystyssä? Aika pelottava ajatus...