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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker clarified the set up for the upcoming Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix during a conference call on Thursday, and revealed that all quarterfinal and semifinal bouts will take place as three, five-minute round fights.
In addition, the tournament will crown the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Champion, who will then meet the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion. However, the latter Champ is taking part in the tournament, so should Alistair Overeem win the tournament, Coker says he will be a "dual Champion."
"To make it simple... the Tournament Champion will stand on his own, and we'll have our Tournament Champion and the Heavyweight Champion," Coker said. "[If Overeem wins] then he'll be the dual champion, and at that point there will be some fighters that he didn't fight in the tournament, and we'll look at having some of those fighters face him down the line."
Coker also clarified what would happen if a fight ended in a draw, or if an alternate needed to be used in the course of the tournament.
"If any fight results in a draw, an independent fourth judge will determine who advances or who wins based on the fighter's overall performance in the fight," Coker said. "We will have a fourth judge on hand scoring the fight independently of the three that we normally have."
"If a fighter qualifies to advance in the tournament but for any reason can not advance, we're forming a five-person tournament-review committee who will select a fighter to advance in his place. This fighter will be chosen from a pool of fighters that will include the previous opponent and the winners of reserve matches."
The tournament begins on February 12 when Fedor Emelianenko meets Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, and Andrei Arlovski meets Sergei Kharitonov in quarterfinal action.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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