By CHRISTOS POLYDOROU
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

As the Strikeforce heavyweight World Grand Prix moves to the second quarterfinal round of fights on June 18, top ranked heavyweight Alistair Overeem seems to be the one with more at stake in this upcoming scrap than any other heavyweight involved in this tournament of fighting mammoths.

Overeem enters the Grand Prix as the current Strikeforce heavyweight champion and the pressure is on to basically defend his title for a total of three times, assuming of course that he gets past the first round. Yet being the champ isn’t the only constituent that makes Overeem of particular interest in the Grand Prix. Coming into this first fight, “Ubereem” must essentially first defend his title against the man that in the year 2006 submitted him to a loss via kimura at the 3:43 mark of Round 2. Indeed, this is hypothetically a grudge match, a chance for the Dutch powerhouse to avenge one of his losses, something that every fighter, especially one as highly regarded, often aims for. For some fighters avenging a loss means more to them than having a title shot, and for Overeem this is a chance to both keep a title and erase a blemish in his fighting career.

Overeem has long been the topic of discussion of a multitude of critics, more recently referred to as a man “good enough to face, but not good enough to beat” by SportsIllustrated.com writer Tim Marchman. Throughout the years, the Dutch kickboxer and mixed martial artist has been criticized for his impressive physique and explosive power with rumors, doubts and controversy running wild over the Dutchman’s dubious muscle gain, going from 224 lbs. to 253.4 lbs. in a little over a year.

On the other side of the ring, looking to foil the champ’s goals, Brazilian jiujitsu sensation Fabricio Werdum looks to score yet another upset- of- the- year victory, hoping to end the fight in the first two minutes of the very first round (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFQ5uF9Kzq8). Werdum recently brought another top heavyweight’s allure to ruin when he submitted in lightning speed the once thought to be pound- for- pound fighting king of the world Fedor Emelianenko.

Interestingly enough, Werdum boasts wins over three of the Grand Prix contestants having scored wins over both aforementioned Emelianenko and Overeem but also over heavy hitter Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva who has already progressed to the semifinals and awaiting for the winner between Overeem and Werdum. On the other hand, Overeem brings to the table losses from two tournament combatants, one being Werdum and the other the Russian heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov who has also punched his way to the semifinal round.