Alistair Overeem was victorious in his opening round bout of the World 2009 K-1 Grand Prix Final 16. Overeem, the current Strikeforce heavyweight champion, dispatched the legendary Peter Aerts with a unanimous decision.
He’ll advance to the World Grand Prix Final, a one-day tournament that will take place on Dec. 5 in Yokohama, Japan. And even though Overeem is just 4-3 in his kickboxing career, he’ll have to be considered one of the favorites to win the tournament based on the performances in his last three bouts — he knocked out Badr Hari, lost a very close decision to defending Grand Prix champion Remy Bonjasky, and then dominated Aerts for the entire fight. He has fashioned himself into one of the best strikers in the world and will be a handful for anyone in mixed martial arts to handle.
Overeem is scheduled to defend his Strikeforce heavyweight title against Fedor Emelianenko in 2010.
