Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem has once again called out prospective challenger Fedor Emelianenko, denying recent comments from the Russian superstar that Overeem is dodging him.


Overeem's accusations against Emelianenko, and more specifically his management company, M-1 Global, are just the latest drama in the strange twists and turns that seem to surround any effort to bring about a fight between the two men.
Overeem has proven to be a strangely elusive title holder, defending his belt just once in the three years since he claimed it with a win over Paul Buentello in 2007. But when Emelianenko, the most famous heavyweight in the history of MMA, joined Strikeforce last year, it seemed to most observers that it would be a simple matter of time before he would challenge Overeem for the title.
Unfortunately, that has not turned out to be the case.


After being unable to agree on a match with Overeem early in 2010 after his management called the champ a "steroid bully", Emelianenko ended a ten-year winning streak with a loss to Fabricio Werdum in June. Overeem, for his part, defended his title with a win over Brett Rogers in May.
Now Overeem has turned down a new challenge from Emelianenko, saying that any fight will have to wait until after he has fulfilled his current obligation to compete in the upcoming K-1 World GP Final in December. Overeem takes offense at recent comments by Emelianenko that he is making excuses not to fight him.


"Here we go again (laughs)," Overeem told Valetudo.ru. "There was a lot of discussion if this was really Fedor saying that because people where telling that Fedor would never give a reaction like that. I know for a fact that M-1 does most of the talking when Fedor is interviewed in writing so I'm not surprised if M-1 gave this answer. On the other hand it could also be that Fedor made these comments but was not well informed by M-1 about the negotiation with Strikeforce and myself. M-1 is doing a great job of keeping Fedor away of the true reality about what is going on."
Overeem thinks the involvement of M-1 Global in Emelianenko's fight selection process has done irreparable harm to the Russian fighter's reputation.


"If Fedor reads the internet especially in the US then he will be shocked how many bad things have been said about him and especially M-1," Overeem stated. "They singlehandedly destroyed the legacy Fedor had with all their weird demands and strange comments during the year. So I hope Fedor read this and will tell him exactly what happened. You challenged me too late and I was already committed for the K-1 and don't blame me because I was calling you out for more than a year but your management company gave all sort of excuses not to fight me. They need months of negotiations with Strikeforce before they can make a fight happen and I'm not the person that's going to wait for you because I want to fight as much as I can."


Still, if the stars align one day, Overeem will be glad to finally meet Emelianenko in the cage. Just not quite yet.
"I'm more than happy to fight you," says Overeem of Emelianenko, "but now you have to wait for me this time, sorry about that (laughs)."