Overeem vs. Werdum not for the title; tournament format consists of three-five minute rounds

There was a lot of talk as the the format of the new Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix, and how it would all unfold.

Alistair Overeem, the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, through a monkey wrench into the whole scheme of things when he proclaimed that he would also like to participate in the tournament which features a who’s who of mixed martial arts talent: Fedor Emelianenko, Sergei Kharitonov, Andrei Arlovski, Brett Rogers, Josh Barnett, Antonio Silva and Overeem’s next opponent, Fabricio Werdum.

While Scott Coker, the CEO of the San Jose based promotion, stated that since Overeem would be fighting Werdum in the quarter-finals, he had hoped that the fight could be contested for the promotion’s heavyweight strap, however those plans have since been nixed.

“All quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be scheduled for three, five-minute rounds,” said Coker who recently clarified the format of the heavy-heavyweight schedule in 2011 . “The tournament final will be five, five-minute rounds for the Strikeforce world grand prix championship.”

The winner of the heavyweight grand prix is set to get the first shot at Alistair Overeem for the division’s title, though the lines become blurry since “The Demolition Man” is now part of the tournament. If Alistair loses in the grand prix, he will still retain his title–but what if he loses in the quarter or even in the semi-finals and the person that beat him doesn’t win the grand prix?

Overeem, you certainly made a mess of things, though the addition of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 champion is certainly an added bonus to an already star-studded line up.

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the news? How would you have formatted the Grand Prix should your champion chose to partake in it as well? Sound off in the comment section below.