· Next Strikeforce Quarterfinal Matches Set For April 9

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 02/12 at 01:23 PM

Press Release:

At the outset of the weigh-in Friday, it was announced that the next two quarterfinal fights in the STRIKEFORCE World Grand Prix -- Heavyweight Tournament would take place on Saturday, April 9. Tomorrow/Saturday, Feb. 12, the STRIKEFORCE World Grand Prix begins live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J. In the main event, Fedor Emelianenko (31-2, 1 NC) faces Antonio “Big Foot” Silva (15-2) in a STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL co-promoted event. The opening quarterfinal on the telecast will match former world champion Andrei Arlovski (15-8) against Russian star Sergei Kharitonov (16-4), the last fighter to defeat STRIKEFORCE and DREAM Heavyweight World Champion Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem.

On April 9, the quarterfinal matchups in a three-stage, single-elimination tournament are: Overeem (34-11, 1 NC) versus the only man to tap out Fedor, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1), and hard-hitting Brett “The Grim” Rogers (11-2) against Josh Barnett (29-5).

The fighters on the SHOWTIME telecast made weight on their first attempts Friday at IZOD Center.

Tickets are on sale at IZOD Center box office, online at Ticketmaster.com and Strikeforce.com, and by phone at (800) 745-3000. The first of five non-televised undercard fights start at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Photos: Esther Lin/Strikeforce