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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem may finally have an opponent for the Dynamite!! 2010 event in Japan on New Year's Eve next week. According to a report from Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com, former UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee has agreed to face Overeem on short notice on the card.
Duffee had initially teased at the fight on his Facebook page, though shortly thereafter deleted the initial comment. However, Helwani reports that the fight now appears set.
Considering Duffee turned down a bout with Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in Strikeforce earlier this month, the move comes as somewhat of a surprise. The 25-year-old was released from the UFC earlier this year following his first career loss, to Mike Russow at UFC 114 in May.
This will also be Overeem's first MMA fight since May, as he took a break from the sport to capture the K-1 World Grand Prix Championship earlier this month. His last MMA bout saw him defeat Brett Rogers at a Strikeforce event in St. Louis, a bout which was his first title defense for the organization since winning the belt in 2007.
The Dynamite!! 2010 New Year's Eve event will air live in North America on HDNet next week.
Penick's Analysis: Duffee's a much better name on short notice for this fight than Bobby Lashley. Duffee's in for an extremely tough fight, but he's got the power that, should he connect early, can absolutely shock and damage Overeem. Of course, this is a fight Overeem should win, especially on short notice, but Duffee's still a prospect that has potential. This is kind of a "no lose" situation for Duffee in trying to get a payday here. If he loses to Overeem, he's lost to someone that a lot of fans consider one of the best heavyweights in the world. If he wins it's one of the more shocking upsets in MMA. Either way, he gets paid, and is fighting a bigger name than Antonio Silva. It makes sense on Duffee's part. For Overeem, he definitely has much more to lose should the unthinkable happen, but this is a chance for him to get a win over a prospect taken more seriously than Lashley.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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