Alistair Overeem, current Strikeforce heavyweight champion, will not be defending his championship until 2011. When he does make his next Strikeforce title defense, he may already have another title added to his credentials: 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix tournament champion.
Overeem is getting ready for the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Finals, which will take place December 4, in Tokyo.
Brief bio and kickboxing history
According to his website, Overeem was born in England but moved to the Netherlands with his brother and mother when he was six years old. He participated in sports like judo and basketball, and would begin training at 15 years old. He would later go on to train with Bat Rutten, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. He currently trains with Team Golden Glory, which is based out of the Netherlands, according to their website.
Overeem had his first kickboxing match at age 17, where he won his first match by unanimous decision. After losing his next two fights, he would take a break and focus on his MMA career. He returned to the world of kickboxing in 2007 where he Jurgen Dolch by TKO in the first round at Ultimate Glory 3.
What is K-1?
According to their website, K-1 is an organization where fighters from around the world fight with their opponents using various fighting techniques to defeat their opponents. K-1 is also known for creating a set of unified rules for their contests.
The first K-1 tournament was held in 1993 and won by Branko Cikatic, a Croatian fighter. Other fighters who have won the K-1 Grand Prix in the past include MMA fighter Mark Hunt, Semmy Schilt, and Ernesto Hoost.
2010 K-1 Grand Prix
According to the K-1 website Overeem, whose current kickboxing record is at seven wins and four losses, picked Tyrone Sprong (by way of drawing the seventh ball) to be his first opponent in the Grand Prix finals. He said he was happy to face Sprong, who he said he trained with for seven years.
“It will be the old days of sparring,” Overeem said.
To get to the K-1 Grand Prix finals, he defeated Bosnian fighter Dzevad Poturak in the first round of the tournament in Yokohama last April. He then went on defeat Ben Edwards, an Austrailian kickboxer, at the K-1 2010 Grand Prix Soul Final 16 just two weeks ago.
Both of these victories won two minutes into the first round, by TKO and knock out respectively.
MMA career
Overeem had his first MMA professional fight at 19 years old where he won by a guillotine submission.
Before fighting in Strikeforce, Overeem has fought in major MMA promotions like Pride FC, DREAM, and RINGS. His current record is 33 wins, 11 losses, and one no contest.
In addition to being the current Strikeforce Heavyweight champion, Overeem has wins over fighters like Vitor Belfort (former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion), Mark Hunt (K-1 2001 World Grand Prix Champion), and Igor Vovchanchyn (Pride 2000 Grand Prix runner up).
Other fighting tournaments
This is not Overeem’s first time participating in the K-1 Grand Prix kickboxing tournament as he had fought in K-1’s 2009 tournament.
According to K-1’s website, he had fought his way to semi finals where he lost to Badr Hari, who lost in the final match.
He has also fought the Pride 2003 and 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix tournaments, according to the Pride Fighting Championship website.
Possible future
Winning the tournament may give Overeem the momentum to compete in K-1’s 2011 Grand Prix. It could also make him a bigger star in the world of sports.
As far as his MMA career goes, he is expected to defend his championship in 2011. Possible contenders for the title include Fabricio Wedrum, the man he was suppose to defend against, Russian fighter Fedor Emilianenko, and Antonio Silva, who is scheduled to face Overeem’s brother Valentijin in December.
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