A long-rumoured heavyweight bout between Strikeforce and K-1 champion Alistair Overeem and former UFC prospect Todd Duffee has been officially confirmed for K-1 Dynamite!! 2010 on New Year’s Eve. The late addition to the card was announced today and will now be a DREAM title fight.
Overeem most recently became the first man to hold major titles in K-1 and MMA at the same time when he won three fights in one night to become K-1 Grand Prix Champion. He remains the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion as well and enters the bout with Duffee as a significant favourite.
Overeem (33-11-0, 1 NC) has not suffered a defeat in MMA in over three years and has quickly risen to become one of the sport’s most talked-about stars. The former light heavyweight has reinvented himself as a heavyweight and is unbeaten in his last nine MMA fights. He captured the Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship in late 2007 and successfully defended the title against Brett “The Grim” Rogers earlier this year. Overeem had campaigned for his Dynamite!! matchup with Duffee to be contested for a new DREAM Heavyweight Championship, and it appears that the bout will now proceed as a title affair. All but one of Overeem’s 33 wins have come by knockout or submission.
Duffee (6-1-0) became an overnight sensation in the UFC when he knocked out Tim Hague in just seven seconds at UFC 102 in August of 2009. The win was Duffee’s sixth, with all victories coming by a form of knockout, and he seemed poised to be the next big star in the UFC’s heavyweight division. However, after dominating tough veteran Mike Russow for two and a half rounds at UFC 114, Duffee was knocked out by a single punch and was released from the promotion soon after for what UFC President Dana White labelled as “attitude issues.” He will take a big step up in competition to make his DREAM/K-1 debut on short notice against Overeem.
Duffee is also scheduled to face TUF 10 alum Abe Wagner at Titan Fighting Championships 16 on January 29th, but reports have suggested that he will likely be replaced in the bout by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia.
K-1 Dynamite!! 2010 takes place on December 31st at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event will air live on HDNet.
This article was updated to note that the Overeem-Duffee bout, first expected to be a non-title fight, will reportedly now be contested for the first DREAM Heavyweight Championship.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)