The Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (33-11) will take his next fight in the ring instead of the cage. The Dutch fighter will participate in the upcoming K-1 World GP FINAL 16 kick-boxing tournament in Seoul, Korea against Ben Edwards.
The matchup was revealed by K-1 President Sadaharu Tanigawa who also announced a matchup between current K-1 heavyweight champ Keijiro “Kyotaro” Maeda and Jerome Le Banner.
There had been a lot of discussion about whether Overeem would defend his Strikeforce title next or head of to K-1. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva had been mentioned as an opponent, as well as Fedor Emelianenko who expressed great interest in fighting the Strikeforce champ. Overeem has said the he is only interested in facing the true number one contender, Fabricio Werdum, who is out with an injury and not expected to return till the new year.
If Overeem defeats Edwards, he’ll move on to the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final held on December 11.
Also participating in the K-1 World GP Final 16 are the eight finalists from K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final and the last six spots will be selected by fan voting.
The other fighters participating are Semmy Schilt, Ewerton Teixeira, Ruslan Karaev, Errol Zimmerman, Badr Hari, and Freddy Kemayo.
Remy Bonjasky, who had qualified to fight at the event, was unable to due to an injury and was replaced by K-1 Heavyweight champion Keijiro Maeda.
HT: Check out the official K-1 website for more details.