Strikeforce ‘ran out of time’ GP delayed until June 18
Strikeforce has postponed World Grand Prix bouts pitting Alistair Overeem against Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett versus Brett Rogers from…
Strikeforce has postponed World Grand Prix bouts pitting Alistair Overeem against Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett versus Brett Rogers from April 9 to June 18.
“We just ran out of time,” said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. “I didn’t find a venue that we thought would work for everybody, so we decided to move it.”
Reactions from the various fight camps were varied.
“All good for us,” said Martijn de Jong, Overeem’s trainer. “Just a couple of weeks more preparation.”
Rogers’ trainer, Mike Reilly, said he was frustrated and called the decision “nuts.”
The date change pushes the tournament semifinals back to mid-September, with the finals penciled in for early December, Coker said.
“For us it sucks” said said Antonio Silva’s manager, Alex Davis “We can see Strikeforce’s point at delaying the other side of the bracket, so they can promote, but it leaves ‘Junior’ without a fight until at least September, which is a long wait … I gotta keep him in action. What I’ll try to see if they’ll let him fight in Japan. He’s in the tournament so it wouldn’t make any sense to have him fight in Strikeforce. We can’t just wait this long.”