Over two years, six K-1 kickboxing fights and seven MMA fights later, Alistair Overeem will finally defend his Strikeforce heavyweight belt on May 15 in St. Louis.That's more than enough to question his devotion towards MMA at an elite level, so on a media call Tuesday afternoon to promote his upcoming fight against Brett Rogers, Overeem reaffirmed his dedication to MMA, expressing that his No. 1 priority this year is his career in the US, or more specifically, Strikeforce.
"It's been too long that I've fought [at Strikeforce], so I'm hoping to do a couple of fights this year," Overeem stated. "K-1 is secondary this year."
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Last year, instead of taking on high-level MMA opponents in the MMA realm, Overeem took on the best of the best in kickboxing, competing four times for K-1, including the K-1 World Grand Prix Final tournament. Overeem, who claims to be a mixed martial arts fighter first, did compete in MMA bouts in 2009, but against gimme opponents. As a prize fighter, the challenge for Overeem was his response to K-1's offers.
"It's very simple," Overeem said. "I have to make money. I have myself to support and my family. You go where the money goes."
Overeem will be fighting Rogers, but the fight everyone wants to see is against Fedor Emelianenko. Overeem said he's not going to sweat the pressure to fight Fedor. Overeem is open to fighting Fedor, but it's all up to Fedor's management, who are notorious for difficult demands.
"We're just going have to wait and see," Overeem said. "Although I think in the end if I fought all the other heavyweights, and he's the only one left, then he'll have to accept the fight, or else he retires in the mean time. If the fight is not going to happen, I would like to fight him, but if they are not going to accept, also fine by me. There's a lot of the other big fighters and big names that [are available to fight] in the US."
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