Overeem: Never Agreed to Fight Rodriguez

Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem said he neither verbally agreed to nor signed a bout agreement to face Ricco Rodriguez at Dream 15 on July 10 in Japan, according to a statement released by his camp to Sherdog.com on Monday.

In the statement, the Dutch striker said he got word last week that numerous media outlets had erroneously reported that he’d accepted a bout with Rodriguez, a former UFC heavyweight champion, for this Saturday’s event at the Super Saitama Arena. Overeem was in the U.S., at the time, after sitting cageside at Strikeforce “Fedor vs. Werdum” on June 26 in San Jose, Calif.

“I want to make it clear that I never verbally agreed to fight him and I never signed a bout agreement with Dream to fight him,” read Overeem’s statement. “I feel sorry for Ricco Rodriguez's camp if they still think the fight is on and I apologize to my fans that have bought a ticket to see me compete.”

The 31-year-old Overeem said that he’d cut a U.S. media tour with Strikeforce short in mid June to accept a heavyweight title match he was told would be against Andrei Arlovski. Overeem said his opponent changed numerous times over the next two weeks (and included names like Tim Sylvia and Ikuhisa Minowa), until the Japanese promotion told him the bout wouldn’t be for a title.

“With all the changes and the title fight no longer a possibility, I immediately turned down the opportunity,” wrote Overeem.

Overeem instead hopped a 20-hour flight to the U.S., to attend Strikeforce. The 31-year-old champion is expected to defend his heavyweight title against Fabricio Werdum or Fedor Emelianenko next for Strikeforce. Overeem earned a dominant first-round TKO victory over Brett Rogers in May.