Speaking with reporters in Japan prior to his K-1 kickboxing fight on Saturday, Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem said that he expects to defend his title against Fedor Emelianenko some time in 2010.
"This year is the K-1 year and then after this I am world heavyweight champion in America of Strikeforce, which is a pretty big promotion," Overeem said (at the 6:30 mark of the video above). "Fedor Emelianenko signed with them two months ago and I'm hoping to fight him next year in America."
Overeem became the heavyweight champion of Strikeforce in November of 2007 and hasn't fought for them since, raising questions about whether he ever intended to return to the promotion, or whether he'd simply continue to fight in Japan. But Overeem says fighting Fedor is what he wants to do next year.
In the mean time, Overeem has a big kickboxing fight against Peter Aerts in the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final 16. That fight will be shown live on HDNet early Saturday morning.
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