QUOTABLES: Alistair Overeem gives his side of the story on why he was pulled from Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"Yes, of course I'm disappointed. Winning the tournament was my number one goal. I understand their position, but they have to understand mine, and I'm disappointed we couldn't work it out.

I don't like to talk about my contract negotiations, but the rumors about me pulling out of the tournament because of that are false. Everybody is trying to find reasons why I was pulled out of the tournament, but I can tell you this: it's not that difficult. Strikeforce promised me a date in the fall (October/November), I acted on it and chose to go on holiday and start my training in August. Zuffa/Showtime then decided to do it in September and then the ball was in my court, and I had to decline because I know it's too short of time to be prepared 100 percent Instead of postponing the event they decided that the show must go on and use one of the alternates. It's their choice, and I respect that but that don't change the fact that nobody benefits from this situation; the fans, the promotion, the event and myself are the ones that are missing out on a great tournament and a great fight. The only one that benefits out of this whole situation is Daniel Cormier, so I wish him best of luck, and I hope eventually to fight the winner of the tournament for the belt.
At the moment I have started training by myself because most of my team members and trainer are on holiday, so I didn't start my real training camp yet. I have to get sparring partners from other countries and fly them in and arrange accommodations. Everything was according to plan and that was to start my fighting program on August 1. So let's take that date as my starting point, then you have to be in the States a week before the fight. So if you calculate it, then you have just four weeks and that's not enough to have a good and well prepared training for such a big fight.

[The toe injury is] not that bad, otherwise I would have canceled [the Silva fight] because of that injury alone. It's more that my body isn't pain-free, there are minor injuries but they prevent you from training 100 percent. If you have just four-to-six weeks, and you have those minor things, then you are jeopardizing your training. I have started my training recently, and on August 1, I will have a training camp."

-Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem talks to MMAFighting.com and clarifies his side of the story on why he was removed from the Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix.

Penick's Analysis: If it was a situation where Strikeforce promised a date before having one set with Showtime then part of this is a lack of acceptable communication on the part of those running the show. This is an unfortunate situation though where both sides have understandable stances and they just couldn't make it work to keep Overeem involved. If Strikeforce wanted to do one thing initially but Showtime had different plans it's too bad that has led to Overeem being a casualty, but at the same time, everyone else was ready, willing and able to go on the Sept. 10 card, including Overeem's replacement Cormier, who competed on the same card Overeem did in June. While Overeem was asked here why they didn't just delay the bout as they did the first set of quarterfinals, the reality of the situation is those bouts shouldn't have been delayed as much as they were in the first place. If they had everyone but Overeem willing to fight on Sept. 10, delaying the event until what would very likely have been November wouldn't have made sense, as it then would have held up the tournament finals even further as well. Picking a date for the semifinals and sticking with it is something that needed to be done, and though it may not have been handled this way had Zuffa not purchased Strikeforce, that doesn't make it a bad thing.

Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai