After issues over business practices were blamed for the release of Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem and three teammates, Golden Glory said Thursday that it wants to continue working with the UFC and Strikeforce, including a deal to bring Overeem to the UFC “if the terms are right”.
“Maybe there is a miscommunication and Dana was not well informed that the direct payment issue was solved,” Golden Glory co-owner Bas Boon said in a statement (via Fighters Only). “It is their company and they can do what they want, we would like to keep working in the future with the UFC and with this statement I cleary say that direct payment to any of our fighter was not a problem and will not be a problem in the future.
“We just want to be able to produce great fighters and create great fights for the fans, we have no intention for Co-promotion deals and are even willing to make an exclusive deal for Alistair Overeem to fight in the UFC, if the terms are right.”
While Golden Glory mends their relationship to the UFC, Boon also vented on former Strikeforce owner Scott Coker with claims that he was in talks with Strikeforce to build a “real competitor to the UFC” while Coker was finalizing Strikeforce’s sale to the UFC.
Overeem, who was released after injuries forced him out of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix semifinals in September, recently said that he still hopes to become UFC champion and fight those ranked above him, including current UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and top contender Junior dos Santos.
For the latest Strikeforce and UFC news stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Latest
What does he want??? To fight everywhere but the UFC??? U know Dana ain’t havin that!
If he wanted to “fight everywhere but the UFC”, would he not have taken his walking papers and laughed all the way to the K-1/DREAM/pro boxing bank? I think that much like GSP, Overeem is working on his legacy. And unlike GSP, Overeem has won championships in more than one combat sport.
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see one stipulation being to put him back in the Grand Prix. The guy deserves a couple weeks leeway at the least. By pushing the Grand Prix forward by half a month (which apparently is the cause of the rift initially), Zuffa has de-legitimized the tourney to the gain of the UFC HWs. Bring back Overeem!
Or put overeem in the UFC to fight guys like Shane Carwin, Brock Lesner (if health permits) ect. Though i would like the Reem to fight guys like Big Foot and Barnet, i think its only a matter of time before he the UFC absorbs Strikeforce so why delay the inevitable.
@Brent
Trust me, I would like nothing more than Ubereem utilizing that few extra square footage of the Ocatgon en route to seeing who truly is the greatest HW out there right now. But speculation aside, dropping a promotions champ from the Grand Prix is weak at best. It’s clearly Zuffa’s way of saying “October belongs to the UFC, no room for ‘business as usual’”.
“If he wanted to “fight everywhere but the UFC”, would he not have taken his walking papers and laughed all the way to the K-1/DREAM/pro boxing bank?”
Strike Dream from that list, what with the financial life support they’re still dying on.
“While Golden Glory mends their relationship to the UFC, Boon also vented on former Strikeforce owner Scott Coker with claims that he was in talks with Strikeforce to build a “real competitor to the UFC” while Coker was finalizing Strikeforce’s sale to the UFC.”
If this is true the cooker is a real csucker?
@Brent & @eldiablo
I think it’s better Overeem is out of the Grand Prix. They shouldn’t have put him in there in the first place, he was their champ at that time. The winner of the Grand Prix should get a title shot against the Strikeforce champ, but since that’s not the case the winner of the Grand Prix should get a trophy and the belt. I would rather see Alistair compete in the UFC, especially if his team and him are willing to play by the rules. If Barnett and Big Foot are good enough they’ll eventually make it over there as well and possibly a fight can be set up then. Overeem doesn’t have to hop in there against the top dogs in the UFC, maybe give him one or two tune up fights against an up and comer or steady veteran, just to see how he does. If he gets past that, than let him try and make his journey to the top against the top heavyweights in the UFC.
Couple things here:
- Alistair Overeem, no offense intended, should NOT have been in the Strikeforce Hw tournament.
When an org already HAS a titleholder in the weightclass the tournament is being fought under, the titleholder’s inclusion is nonsensical in terms of competition.
A tournament is appropriate to either crown a champion or determine a title challenger. What Sf put together made little sense beyond, “hey everybody
Promotionally it made a lot of sense when Scott Coker was shot-calling, but those days are done, and so should AO’s run in this tournament.
If re-signed by Zuffa, AO should fight the tourney winner and then be transitioned into the UFC.
- Golden Glory, again no offense intended, just maybe…and again I say maybe… doesn’t seem to get it. Or maybe its fair to say they didn’t get it 10 days ago, but now they do.
Sure, Zuffa will talk numbers, and number of fights, but other “terms”?
As in, “we someday maybe want to fight in Japan and Europe for other promotions? Or kickbox Badr Hari or Western box a Klitschko or blahblahblah”
That would be NO, spelled with a capital GO FU<K YOURSELVES TO DEATH, so GG should either accept that and move on with their day, or not accept that and move on with their day, the latter pretty much kissing major North America MMA money goodbye.
However if GG does get it, as their statement seems to indicate, we should be seeing AO re-signed by years end.
This all might work itself out now that Zuffa has made their point and GG seems to now indeed "get it".
- As for the Scott Coker/Bas Boon issue, all I can say is "in MMA sh!t happens".
At the time Coker made certain statements to certain individuals I'm sure he was doing his level best to work deals to keep from having to [figuratively] take a knee and kiss the rings of the Fertitas and their top capo Dana White, so to speak.
That didn't happen and now Coker like Reed Harris before him is on the payroll towing the line.
If Boon wants to be p!ssed at someone, he should be p!ssed at himself and his management team/s for not making sure they were on the same page with the new ownership, instead of buying into that laughable "business as usual" dogsh!t so many people bit on when the Sf acquisition dropped.
Look, I like Scott Coker and Alistair Overeem as much as the next guy.
But these are smart dudes who know what time it is.
GG and AO HAD to know something was p!ssing Zuffa off, just like Scott Coker HAD to know that by doing business with CBS/Showtime and M-1 Global he was painting a target on his org's back.
An old saying in Las Vegas goes something like:
"You pays your money, you takes your chances."
Coker took his shot and it didn't work out, so now he works for Zuffa. He should be grateful he could ink a deal that left him the dignity of a job and a [mostly empty] title.
IMO Scott Coker is a good guy who was fighting out of his weightclass, and eventually he got ground down into a losing situation like a Jon Fitch opponent.
GG and their fighters only have to look as far as the AKA situation from a few years back to see how Zuffa handles fightcamps that don't fall in line with their POV.
Hopefully this gets sorted out in a way everyone concerned can live [and make money] with, and in a way that allows the fanbase to see as many good fights between good fighters as possible…
@jcohl
Wow! That’s perfectly put!!! That is why I call you the mastermind of MMA hear at the FrenZy. Thank you for your SUPER intelligent posts. I have a lot of respect for you and I wish you all the best man, in everything you do in your life! I’ve been here since this site was called “ufcdaily.com” and your the best I’ve ever seen, Just like GSP, you’re “The Greatness”. ;-)
I said it before and I’ll say it again, MUCH OBLIGED!!!
Good luck with everything and enjoy this weekend of fights! Take care Jcohl and hope all is and goes well!!! :-)
Get a room…
yeah, this is a bit much. you are sounding like an obsessed freak..its a lil creepy
I think I just threw up in my mouth, only just kept it down
Hey Jealousy
I also have tuns of respect for the mods and the people that run this site. I say the same to all of them, as I do to jcohl. I also want to thank them for not giving me the boot for saying a very disrespectful comment and thank them for removing it. I promise you guys it won’t happen again and I have no excuse for what I did. I made a mistake and will learn from it. I apologize and promise I won’t loose control and degrade anymore what so ever.
Thank you all for this wonderful site and sorry to everyone that didn’t get the acknowledgment. No need to lash out and/or get Jealous. Wish everyone the best though and have a good life to all. Enjoy SCS 18 tonight everyone. ;-)
Hey I agree with you Five-Alive. Loved the fitch analogy. Great post as always.
@raffy
Thank you for understanding and hope you enjoy tonight’s fights. Take care. :-)
duhh, where else is there to go for a big name like alistar, a smaller league, for what to win the little league heavy weight championship, i mean no disrespect, i enjoy watching all the other leagues, but big time is big time !!!
@cesar
I was just at a local mma event and there was a guy, Who was Russian, and wearing Fedor’s last walk-out T-shirt. He said he would rather see Fedor stay in Russia and take on a smaller name, than retire, instead of watch him try to take on Overeem. He said he would like to see Overeem test the waters in the UFC and finishes of with “no more small league, time for big league”. Kind of similar to what you said, but not exactly. :-) I do agree as well.
i agree with you too friend, i enjoy fedor and dont want him to retire… some small leagues pack a big punch !!!
@cesar
You’re right, some small leagues do pack a big punch and so does
Fedor. ;-)
Take care man and hope you enjoy tonight’s fights!
Do people really think overeem has a chance with ufc’s elite HWs? I guess I see him having troubles with carwin, Mir or even the last guy to KO Struve, let alone jds or Velasquez.
I’m sure a fight against he and Brock would be a huge draw but there is a big difference in stopping brocks shot and that of a tired bjj guy who begs you to flop into his guard.
I don’t think 0vereem will fair well against the top HW’s in the UFC. Especially if he brings to the table what he did against Werdum, he will get lit up against opponents like JDS and Valesquez. Time will tell though.
Seriously, totally agree. I don’t understand how people really think Overeem is THAT good. It must be the same people that were on Fedor’s tail.
Actually, I will have to disagree. I believe that Overeem will fair well in the UFC. If he can bring it. When AO is on his game, it’s a wrap. The guy’s a great fighter, but…. And I speak from experience here, When you train to fight, you train to fight. Hopping from one combat sport to another CAN actually do as much harm as good. If you want to fight in the UFC (the Varsity team IMO), then you need to be focused and dedicated to MMA and all of it’s attributes. Not doing some boxing on the side during an mma training camp. That has almost always been where Overeem has had trouble. If he would sit the eff down and train straight MMA and dedicate to it as he should, he’d be top tier UFC HW material. He has a decent natural ability, and he is genetically well built, and he has a huge amount of fight experiences…from several standpoints. Only time will tell. But he’s only getting older and he needs to make up his mind while he’s still a major draw and can get that money.