Coker Clarifies Rules, Structure of Strikeforce Heavyweight GP

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Contrary to initial reports, Alistair Overeem’s Strikeforce heavyweight title will not be on the line at any point during the promotion’s upcoming heavyweight grand prix.

Since the eight-man, single-elimination tournament was formally announced in early January, word has circulated that Overeem’s title would be up for grabs in each of the champion’s bouts. During a Thursday media conference call, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker clarified both the rules and structure of the tournament.

“The winner of the final match will be crowned Strikeforce World Grand Prix champion, and he’ll receive an opportunity to fight for the Strikeforce heavyweight belt at that time,” Coker explained. If Overeem were to come out on top, Coker said that Strikeforce would look at having the reigning champ fight an opponent whom he did not meet in the tournament.

Along with Overeem, the bracket includes such notable heavyweights as Fedor Emelianenko, Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva, Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski. The tournament is set to begin on Feb. 12 at Strikeforce “Fedor vs. Silva,” which takes place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. The promotion is still shopping for a location and date for the tournament’s second round. Coker stated that “pending injuries, the semifinals would be late June, July.”

While it was initially thought that each tournament bout would consist of five, five-minute rounds, all quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be scheduled for the standard three five-minute periods. Only the tournament final remains a five-round affair.

“We just didn’t feel that it was fair for one person to fight five rounds, one person to fight three rounds,” said Coker. “There was debate about, well, should the final fight -- which is five rounds -- be a title fight? But then, what if Alistair wasn’t there? It just became very confusing.”

In the case that any of the tournament’s matches are ruled a draw, Coker revealed that a fourth judge will be on hand to score the bout independently and select a winner “based on overall performance.” The rule is similar to that of longtime official Nelson “Doc” Hamilton’s proposed Martial Arts Specific Scoring system.

Of course, with any tournament comes the possibility of a participant being sidelined by injury. While a trio of reserve bouts has been booked for the Feb. 12 event, Coker said that the selection process for a replacement fighter, if needed, would be more involved than a simple swap.

“If a fighter qualifies to advance in the tournament but, for any reason, cannot advance, we’re forming a five-person tournament review committee who will select a fighter to advance in his place,” said Coker. “This fighter will be chosen from a pool of fighters that includes the previous opponent and the winners of the reserve matches.”

Heading the tournament review committee will be Strikeforce rules director Cory Schafer. Names of the other tournament committee members and further tournament rules are expected to be released shortly.