Dana White Says Alistair Overeem Out of Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix with Broken Toe

After defeating Fabricio Werdum in the quarterfinal round in June, Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem was on his way to fight Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals. That plan took a drastic turn on Monday with Overeem being excluded from the remainder of the tournament altogether.

Strikeforce officials announced that the semifinal round would take place on Sept. 10. Overeem, however, said that would be too soon for him, leading

UFC president Dana White, who is a part-owner of the company that owns both the UFC and Strikeforce, on Tuesday confirmed that Overeem is out, saying that it was due to Overeem’s camp informing him that the champ has a broken toe. White noted that the Sept. 10 date was set by Strikeforce television partner Showtime and couldn’t be changed, so Overeem had to be replaced in the tournament.

White added that while Overeem is out of the tournament, he is still under contract and remains the Strikeforce heavyweight champion.