Strikeforce: Overeem vs Werdrum Preview

Strikeforce's latest fight card takes place tomorrow night at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Showtime.
  The card is headlined by the last two quarterfinal fights in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament.
   Alistair Overeem (MMA 34-11 SF 2-0) takes on Fabrico Werdum (MMA 14-4-1, SF 3-0) in the main event and in the last quarter final of the grand prix tournament. The winner of this fight will take on Antonio Silva in the semi-finals.
   Overeem, who is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion of the World (His title is not on the line for this tournament), is a complete fighter who can finish fights by knock out or submission. He lost to Werdum in 2006, but has respectable wins over Brett Rogers, UFC bust Todd Duffee, and Victor Belfort. He is very experienced with 45 MMA fights, but Overeem rarely goes the distance with only three fights that went to decision in his career. So if the fight drags to the later rounds (5 round fight), Overeem could be in trouble.
   Werdum is also a versatile fighter who has solid ground game to go along with a tough standup game. Werdum has also faced tough competition and has came up on top. He has defeated Antonio Silva, Brandon Vera, Gabriel Gonzaga, and even the MMA legend Fedor Emelianeko by submission. Werdum finishes his fights for the most part, but has more fights that went to a decision compared to Overeem.
   This fight will be a slugfest for sure because both fighters have incredible knockout power, but watch out for submission attempts because they could very well happen. This should be "Fight of the Night" for sure.
Overall Prediction: Overeem TKO in 3rd Rnd.
   The other grand prix quarter final is between Brett Rogers (MMA 11-2, SF 2-2) and Josh Barnett (MMA 29-5, SF 0-0). The winner of this fight will take on Sergei Kharitonov in the semi-finals.
   Rogers is a knockout specialist who has won via KO in 10 of his 11 victories. Rogers is most notable for being knocked out by Fedor on CBS in Novemember of 2009.
  Barnett is an MMA veteran who can KO, submission, or via decision. He has wins over Randy Couture, Pedro Rizzo, and Jeff Monson.
   Rogers will try to make this fight a quick knockout, and if that does not work, I think Barnett has his name all over this fight.
Overall Prediction: Barnett TKO in 4th Rnd
 A lightweight bout between KJ Noons (MMA 10-3, SF 2-1) and Jorge Masvidal (MMA 21-6, SF 1-0) is also featured.
   Noons has wins over Nick Diaz, Jorge Gurgel, and Yves Edwards.  Said to be known for his KO power, Noons looks to enforce it on Masvidal.
   Masvidal gets his wins in many different ways and has wins over Joe Lauzon, Edwards, and a recent loss against Paul Daley.
  I expect Noons to dominate this fight with his KO ability.
  Overall Prediction: Noons TKO in 2nd Rnd.