Alistair Overeem Vs. Fabricio Werdum Fight Set For April 9th, Possibly in Japan

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has confirmed the date for the second set of quarterfinal bouts in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament, ESPN is reporting.

The second set of quarterfinal fights will be Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem versus Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett-Brett Rogers.

The date of the fights will be April 9th. Strikeforce did not share where the bouts will take place.

The ESPN report states that the fight card could possibly take place in Japan and be presented by Real Entertainment. Real Entertainment is a Japanese company that has co-produced PRIDE events in the past. The company partnered with FEG in 2008 to form DREAM. 

If Strikeforce does go to Japan with the card, it would be the promotion’s first event in the country. 

Overeem’s title will not be on the line during his bout with Werdum. 

Overeem last fought under the Strikeforce banner in May of 2010, defeating Brett Rogers via first-round TKO in the first, and only, defense he has made of his Strikeforce title.

Werdum’s last bout was his June 26, 2010 submission victory over Fedor Emelianenko.

The quarterfinal bout against Rogers will mark the first time that Barnett will fight under the Strikeforce banner. His last fight was a first-round TKO victory over Geronimo dos Santos in Australia on July 10 last year.

For his part, Rogers last fought on October 23, 2010, defeating Ruben Vilareal via unanimous decision. 

The first two quarterfinal bouts in the Strikeforce tournament, Fedor versus Antonio Silva and Andrei Arlovski-Sergei Kharitonov will take place on February 12th at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.