Tonight Werdum takes on Overeem at Strikeforce. Photo: Josh Hedges/Zuffa.
The stars of a card packed with Jiu-Jitsu black belts, Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem will face off in the big heavyweight standoff of this half of the year, in Dallas.
Werdum, who beat Overeem back in the day at Pride FC, provoked the Dutchman, saying he will again carry out his tactic of “taking him down and tapping him out, but I want to break his face again,” the Brazilian said in provocation.
Now the current Strikeforce champion, who has even submitted Vitor Belfort and knows all the ins and outs of wielding the guillotine, wants to show he’s a much greater athlete, in every way.
In this climate, the second round of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix is all set to go off, now under the directorship of Zuffa, the UFC parent company that recently acquired its former rival.
Riding the wave of his headline-making win over Fedor Emelianenko last June, Werdum will be looking to come out on top in from the second major challenge in his Strikeforce career. If he beats the current champion, the former UFC fighter will be through to the tournament semifinal, where he’ll face fellow Brazilian Antônio “Pezão” Silva, who also beat the Russian, in the first round of the GP.
The other GP fight this Saturday features submission savant Josh Barnett against the strike-savvy Brett Rogers. The winner will have to contend with the heavy fists of Sergei Kharitonov, who knocked out Andrei Arlovski back in February.
Check out the card:
Strikeforce – Overeem vs Werdum
Dallas, Texas
June 18, 2011
Heavyweight GP quarterfinals
Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum
Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers
Main card
Valentijn Overeem vs. Chad Griggs
Daniel Cormier vs. Jeff Monson
Jorge Masvidal vs. KJ Noons
Preliminary card
Brian Melancon vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg
Nah-Shon Burrell vs. Joe Ray
Magno Almeida vs. Conor Heun
Mike Bronzoulis vs. Todd Moore
JZ Cavalcante vs. Justin Wilcox