On Thursday Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed the date for the upcoming Strikeforce World Grand Prix tournament quarterfinal bout between heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, naming April 9th as the day at a to-be-determined venue.
Coker spoke to ESPN.com about the date following a press conference for this weekends Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg event.
Also likely for the card will be tournament participants Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers, as well as Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez, who could potentially defend his title to Tatsuya Kawajiri. Japan looks like the front runner to host the event despite Strikeforce’s recent talk of holding events in Canada and Brazil.
This will be the second meeting between Overeem and Werdum, who fought back in May 2006 at a Pride Total Elimination event in the first round of the Openweight Grand Prix tournament. Werdum would earn a submission victory by securing a kimura in the second round.
Overeem has won six in a row and is undefeated in 10 matches. Last year he earned a first round KO over Todd Duffee at the Dynamte!! 2010 event to earn the DREAM interim heavyweight title in December. Earlier that month he captured the K-1 crown to become the 2010 World Grand Prix champ. And he defended his Strikeforce title in May for the first time by defeating fellow tournament participant Brett Rogers by TKO in the first round.
Werdum comes in having won three in a row and is 5-1 in his last six matches. His last fight earned him the Submission of the Year and Upset of the Year from many MMA sites and media, for his first round submission over Fedor Emelianenko in June. It was his only fight of 2010.