Overeem-Duffee Official; Special Rules Revealed for ‘Dynamite’

Alistair Overeem: Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com

K-1 and Dream parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group today confirmed the match-up at a press conference in Tokyo. “Dynamite” will take place on New Year's Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Overeem is undefeated in his last nine bouts, a streak which extends over three years. His most recent conquest was a May drubbing of Brett Rogers in Strikeforce, but MMA isn’t the only forum in which “The ‘Reem” has been impressive. The Golden Glory product is less than a month removed from winning the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix, defeating Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki and Peter Aerts in a single night to take the coveted kickboxing crown.

Duffee’s last appearance in the cage also came in May, when he was shockingly knocked out by veteran Mike Russow at UFC 114. Plagued by a knee injury, the previously-unbeaten Duffee was cut by the promotion in September. Duffee is currently scheduled to compete on Jan. 29 at Titan Fighting Championships 16 in Kansas against “The Ultimate Fighter 10” alum Abe Wagner.

Two “Dynamite” bouts are scheduled to be held under “special rules,” the details of which the organization also revealed today.

Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki’s clash with K-1 Max veteran Yuichiro Nagashima will feature one three-minute kickboxing round, followed by a standard five-minute MMA round. The fighters will use open-fingered gloves throughout. If no winner is decided in the eight minutes of competition, the fight will be declared an automatic draw.

Meanwhile, Bob Sapp’s super-heavyweight “IGF rules” bout with former sumo Shinichi Suzukawa will feature a rule set similar to modern MMA, but the fighters will not wear gloves. Closed-fist strikes are forbidden, though palm strikes are legal. The match is being produced by the Inoki Genome Federation, Antonio Inoki’s pro-wrestling promotion.