Alistair Overeem: Hasn't defended Strikeforce belt in 2 yearsThe last three years have been an up and down battle for Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, who after losing five of his nine fights between 2006 and 2007, turned 2008 and 2009 into his years.

A Pride FC and 2 Hot 2 Handle veteran, Alistair Overeem has competed professionally 44 times by his own age of twenty-nine, an unprecedented feat for an athlete his age, and the sport he’s vested his time and effort in.

Alistair finished off 2007 in November with a Strikeforce debut, where in the second round of his fight with Paul Buentello, he rained thunderous knees down upon his grounded opponent’s body with the end result being a win by submission, and claim to the new Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship. Alistair became Strikeforce’s first crowned heavyweight that evening.

Yet, since his win over Buentello, it’s been more than two years since Alistair has appeared in the promotion to defend his title, instead taking fights in DREAM, Ultimate Glory (a Netherlands based promotion), and 2009’s year-end Dynamite show, where he dispatched headstrong veteran Kazuyuki Fujita by way of a first-round, knee-meets-face knockout.

But with no plans to appear in Strikeforce as the promotion struggles to lockdown viable heavyweight competitors and in lieu of the difficulty Strikeforce has had in committing Fedor to a heavyweight bout, it seems that Alistair is growing uncomfortable with his stagnant position within that promotion, and may be hinting at talks with the UFC.

In the latest edition of Fighters Only Magazine, a UK based publication (and a damn good one, at that), Alistair tells the press (however ineptly) that he’s had a chance to talk with the sport’s foremost stateside promotion, and that he doesn’t like the terms of the agreement they’ve extended him.

"I'm not going to discuss the UFC too much with the media,” tells Alistair. “But I will say that when they show me terms I like, I'll sign."

Citing money to be a non-factor, Alistair says “There are some conditions they have that I don't like. But like I said, when the terms are right I will sign right away."

With this, it seems apparent that the only real hitch in the deal, per Alistair, might be elements of the exclusivity agreement that the UFC typically extends to their fighters, which would restrict Alistair from taking fights in Japan or with other promotions while signed with the UFC. Granted, if money is not an issue, Alistair most certainly will not be swayed by any given dollar amount.

Then again, we’ve seen fighters leverage this point for the purpose of achieving exactly that: more money.

He adds that his career goal is a winning bout versus Russian juggernaut, Fedor Emelianenko, and this may be indicative of why he’s started talking with the UFC. Alistair signed with the promotion in 2007, when he earned the promotion’s vacant heavyweight title with his debut win over Buentello. Since, as of August of 2009, Fedor Emelianenko signed with Strikeforce following the now-defunct Affliction Entertainment’s train-wreck of an attempt at a third show.

Since, no news has come Alistair’s way of any potential of a shot at Fedor. His anxiousness has grown to such a degree that he now openly wonders if he’ll get to fight the Russian once Fedor’s one-year anniversary with the promotion has come and gone.

The article comes out today in Fighters Only Magazine, available in the UK and on select newsstands in the United States.