By Guilherme Cruz

Photo Esther Lin

Striekforce had great achievements in 2010, growing its label worldwide and becoming everyday more a rival to the UFC in the United States. And 2011 promises more surprises for the fans. Sources close to the event informed TATAME that Strikeforce is planning a heavyweight GP for the next year, and it’ll bring the top eight contenders in the division, including the reining champion Alistair Overeem, who recently won K-1 World GP title.

Along with Overeem, names like Fedor Emelianenko, Fabrício Werdum, Josh Barnett, Antônio Silva, Brett Rogers, Andrei Arlovski and Sergei Kharitonov are also in talks to participate in the tournament.

The fight between Fedor and Silva, which has been rumored on the past days, is agreed to happen in February, and other match-ups are in works. Werdum, who comes from a first-round submission victory over Fedor, will probably fight Kharitonov in March, and Barnett vs Rogers, Overeem vs Arlovski might happen as well.

The heavyweight tournament, which will happen in three events, will probably mark the first two Strikeforce pay-per-view events, at GP’s semifinals and final. Stay tuned on TATAME.com for more news on the tournament.