When Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (32-11 MMA, 2-0 SF) steps into the cage at Saturday night's Showtime-broadcast "Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery" event, he will fight for the organization for the first time in two-and-a-half years.

During that time, Overeem has gone 6-0 with six first-round stoppages while competing in Japan and Holland, took part in a handful of K-1 contests, dealt with an injury suffered in a night-club scuffle and constantly addressed concerns that his hulking frame was developing with the assistance of chemical enhancements.

Now he'll finally return to the U.S. to face challenger Brett Rogers (10-1 MMA, 2-1 SF), and Coker said he's excited to see first-hand how Overeem has progressed in his time away from the organization.

"Alistair is an amazing talent," Coker told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "He's been fighting for many years, but I saw him fighting originally when I was watching PRIDE back in the day. He had a good career there, he fought for us, and then now he's decided to fight in K-1, so he's improved his standup skills.

"I'm eager to see the Alistair Overeem that's not just an MMA fighter but also a K-1 level striker."

During Overeem's extended absence, many MMA observers criticized both Strikeforce and its heavyweight champion for an apparent lack of desire to put the title on the line. Many suggested Overeem should be stripped of his belt, but Coker said he was never in favor of the move.

The Strikeforce exec insists his organization simply didn't have enough fights for Overeem in the beginning, and since the company has expanded, the champion's hand injury and busy schedule simply precluded him from competing.

However, Coker insists that will change beginning with Saturday's fight.

"There was dialogue about [stripping Overeem of his title], but I was really against that," Coker said. "In 2007, I think he fought for us in November, and in 2008, I don't think we really had a fight for him. In 2009, when we launched the TV deal, that was just last year. Since we've had the TV relationship with Showtime and CBS and went from a regional promotion to a national promotion, it's just been a year.

"We had an opportunity to have a fight with him last year, but then he was injured, and then he had a fight with K-1. But with Golden Glory (Overeem's management team), we had a clear understanding that he was going to have to fight for us in the spring of this year and then fight for us and have the U.S. be the priority from here going forward, which they agreed to. I know he wants to fight in K-1 at the end of the year, but he's going to be available between now and December, and that was part of the deal."

Overeem battered Paul Buentello in November 2007 en route to claiming Strikeforce's first-ever heavyweight title. The win was Overeem's second under the Strikeforce banner after earning a 2006 decision over Vitor Belfort.

In Rogers, Overeem now faces a powerful slugger with unquestionable knockout power.

But many have questioned if Rogers, who is coming off of a loss to Fedor Emelianenko, has really earned the right to fight for a title. Coker believes he has.

"Brett Rogers was 10-0 and was supposed to fight Alistair Overeem before Alistair got hurt, and he instead fought Andrei Arlovski and knocked Arlovski out," Coker said. "People said he was deserving of a title shot, then he lost to Fedor, like everybody does, and people now think he shouldn't get a title shot. I disagree.

"With Brett Rogers, if he punches Alistair – or punches anybody – on the chin, it's going to be a long night for them."

While perhaps not the fight most MMA fans were hoping for in Overeem's return to Strikeforce, the contest with Rogers has all the makings of an entertaining heavyweight slugfest. Rogers claims eight first-round finishes among his 10 career wins while Overeem has stopped 26 opponents in the opening frame.

Coker said Saturday night could be the first of many featuring the "Demolition Man."

"If you haven't seen Alistair, tune in to Showtime to watch this fight," Coker said. "He's a phenomenal athlete, amazing talent. He's a guy that I feel could be the No. 1 runner-up to fight Fedor.

"Believe me, Alistair wants to be a star in America, and he has a platform now to do it. He's just got to go out there and show the world what he could do."