Several reliable media sources are reporting that both Alistair Overeem (33-11) and Todd Duffee (6-1) have agreed to meet on Dec. 31st at the upcoming FieLDS Dynamite!! 2010 even in Japan.
MMAFighting.com is reporting that both sides have officially agreed to the fight, while MMAjunkie.com notes that only verbal agreements have been made. Either way an official announcement is likely to come after Dec. 25th so there is plenty of room for speculation over the next few days.
Duffee hasn’t fought since May when he lost to Mike Russow at UFC 114 and is scheduled to meet Abe Wagner at the upcoming Jan. 29 Titan Fighting Championships 16 event. The former UFC heavyweight had previously turned down a fight to meet Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva on short notice for Strikeforce’s Dec. 4th show but turned it down. Now it seems that either the money was right or that Duffee felt ready as he’d been preparing for the TFC bout. We’ll have to wait for Duffee or his camp to explain why he took the bout.
Overeem is fresh off his K-1 World Grand Prix Finals tournament crowning earlier this month in Japan. This will be just his second MMA bout this year having defeated Brett Rogers last May in his first Strikeforce title defense. The Dutch fighter had been asking to participate on the New Year’s Eve show but had wanted to fight for the vacant DREAM heavyweight title.
Dynamite!! 2010 takes place on Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and will air live in North America on HDNet.