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[SimpleJack]

Alistair Overeem vs. Todd Duffee Finally Made Official for Dynamite!! -- MMA Fighting

TOKYO, Japan -- Alistair Overeem finally has an official opponent for his New Year's Eve Dynamite!! bout as Todd Duffee was announced only two days prior to fight night as the man who is scheduled to stand across the ring from him.

Duffee, who flew in covertly only three days before his anticipated match up, commented on his decision to take the high risk/high reward fight.

"I think every opponent is risky. It's MMA, that's what it's about. It's a chance to fight in Japan and a chance to fight one of the best. I'm in the sport to test myself and not have some sort of padded record. I'm here to fight, that's why we do what we do. I want to see what I'm made of and Alistair is a great opponent to do that against."

Duffee has noticed the popular sentiment that taking the fight against the highly dangerous Overeem on short notice is a mistake, and he challenged that by wearing a t-shirt that proclaimed, "Doubt Me".

"I definitely wore it on purpose. I know everyone's got Alistair picked. I definitely think I deserve a little more respect than what I'm getting and I'm going to go out there and prove that. [I accepted the fight] the moment I got the offer. I didn't hear about it for some time. I heard about it maybe ten days ago."

Duffee's manager, Monte Cox, did not leap on the idea as his 25 year old charge did.

"My manager said no, but I think you just can't say no to this kind of opportunity. You've got to do things in your life to get where you want to be and who's got the right to tell you about it. That's how I feel. I actually asked my manager if he could get this fight for me. I heard that they were having trouble getting an opponent for him and everybody turned it down. I thought there might be a shot in hell that I could get it and at first he said no, we talked for about an hour and he finally went out there and did it. I have one of the best managers in the business. I understand his perspective on why I shouldn't be here but I know the reasons why I should be here."

Despite Duffee jumping at the opportunity for a fight with the Strikeforce Champion, he admits that he is not 100% for this bout.

"I think my mind is one hundred percent and that's what really matters. It's no secret that I got, I think, seven days notice and it was over the Christmas break and I had a 22 hour flight here with the total travel time. My mind is 100% though and I'm here to fight, no question."

Overeem, who will be slightly heavier and have a small height advantage on the night, welcomes Duffee as an opponent as long as there is a belt involved.

"I'm very happy that DREAM found an opponent for me. I'm sure that Todd is going to be very motivated to show a good fight so I'm sure the fans will enjoy a good show. I'm a fighter and I love to fight. The Dynamite show is a nice show to fight on so why not? Secondly, DREAM heavyweight title. I love titles. I'm the Strikeforce Champion, recently I became the K-1 Champion. The DREAM title is another one that I want."

Unfortunately for the belt collector, DREAM EP Keiichi Sasahara reveals that Overeem might not get a chance to add to his wardrobe here.

"Right now at this stage the DREAM title match structure is 10 minutes followed by two 5 minute rounds. This fight is five, three minute rounds. We talked with Mr. Overeem and approached him the possibility that this be called an interim title match. We will make a decision later tonight or tomorrow on that. Right now this is a regular DREAM match."

Ignoring Sasahara's announcement, Overeem reiterated his focus, not so much on Duffee, but on the unclaimed DREAM heavyweight title.

"I'm very motivated for the DREAM heavyweight title. I'll just wait and see what DREAM decides. I'm just happy that they found someone who is ready to fight, is coming from the UFC, has a good record and is a very aggressive style fighter. I think he is worthy of a title fight. After I win this fight, if anyone wants the DREAM heavyweight title they can come here and try and take it from me and I'll fight anybody. I'm ready for anybody."

This fight certainly legitimizes the DREAM HW title.

Well at least Overeem is willing to fight anyone anytime.......including guys coming off losses.....who are "worthy of a title fight" as he puts it.

[TBEAR]

Originally Posted by DonFrye

This fight certainly legitimizes the DREAM HW title.

Well at least Overeem is willing to fight anyone anytime.......including guys coming off losses.....who are "worthy of a title fight" as he puts it.

Wait, hold on a min..... Are you saying that Todd dont deserve to fight AO for a belt?

OK really, AO runs through Todd and Coker will say AO is the bestest HW in the world. Then AO wont defend the SF belt for like 2 years, even then it wont be agianest Fedor, Josh, or Werdum.

This fight is stupid!

[CJRockstar]

Originally Posted by DonFrye

Alistair Overeem vs. Todd Duffee Finally Made Official for Dynamite!! -- MMA Fighting


This fight certainly legitimizes the DREAM HW title.

Well at least Overeem is willing to fight anyone anytime.......including guys coming off losses.....who are "worthy of a title fight" as he puts it.

I don't think Duffee Legitimizes shit ,granted I think you were being facetious. He was beaten by a guy he had plastered like a wall... Just because he was in the UFC doesn't mean he is worthy of a title shot. I think the Japanese just like him because he's like a heavyweight John Cena wannabe, and they loves them some WWE wraslin over there.

I can see the betting odds for this fight being Alistair Overeem -800 and Todd Duffee +600. The only way Overeem loses this fight is if he rushes in impatiently and get's beat to the punch. He has way too many tools to lose to the likes of Duffee.

[beardown98]

Man I am not excited for this I don't see how Todd d can win I see his strength as his biggest asset he needs to go for the take down and maintain top control he cannot stand and bang with AO. I'd bet the house on AO in this fight seems like dreams HW title will be as sought after as SF's HW title what a joke.

[CJRockstar]

Hurray, now Overeem can tie up 3 different Heavyweight Titles at one time!!!

[Y2JUBAE]

LOL, yet another fighter coming off a loss, getting a title shot. Dream, SF... Very sad.

[iced]

i find it very strange that duffee turns down the fight with bigfoot sivla because of (alleged) short notice and takes this fight. bigfoot is a much more winnable fight than uber IMO

should be an interesting freak show though. lolz

[Daellusx]

Prestige and history. That is what comes to mind when I think about title belts. Winning a belt is supposed to mean you have beaten the best and are the pinnacle of your sport. What SF and Dream are doing to the MMA belts is making them next to worthless. Their "champ" doesnt defend the belt for 2+ years and when he finally defends it it is against a guy coming off a lose who had little to no business fighting for the belt. Now Dream is putting the belt on the line with one fighter having under 10 days to prepare and also coming off a lose. What the fuck happened to making your belt mean something?

I wont comment on AO's K-1 since I do not follow K-1 much so I am not sure how much that belt means. My comments are specifically aimed at the Dream/SF belt.

[GangGreenWarrior]

So if Overeem holds the K1, Dream and SF titles, where will be fight now to avoid defending them?

[Frasedog]

Props to Duffee for taking the opportunity. More people should have that attitude in MMA. And frankly I'm just happy to see Overeem in action, regardless of who he's fighting.