Backstage Strikeforce News: Cyborg's Return, Overeem-Steroids, & More

After his win over Brett Rogers at Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery, Alistair Overeem addressed the rumours about his steroid use which came about due to his weight gain and apparent reluctance to fight in the US. "For me it was just a matter of time," Overeem said. "Of course people are going to speculate, but it was a matter of time before I fought here, and I would just do the drug testing like everyone else. When I pass that, all the critics will be silenced." Missouri has a random drug test policy, which would not ensure that Overeem was tested for steroids. To help silence the critics, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker chose to pay for testing for all fighters on the card. That said, Coker said he understands why there is speculation. "If Alistair was 215 pounds, no one would be asking those questions. All these other people saying, 'Oh, he's on steroids,' and this and that, it is what it is. The media put a lot of attention on it. I think we fixed the problem by drug testing everybody. We'll get the results next week, and if there's a problem, we're going to let people know. It was the right thing to do because the commission is doing random testing, and I didn't want to leave any chance for a crack of skepticism. This puts everyone in check, right? This is a real sport with real athletes. Drug testing, in certain states, is going to be necessary, and we will do it again if we have to." Overeem believes the rumors started with people who don't like him. "I know there are some individuals who are responsible for these allegations, and all these individuals are in some way associated with an opponent I beat or personally dislike me for some reason," he said. "Then you've got the rumors spreading. But like I said, it's people that don't like me for some reason ? of course they're going to be against me. It's just a matter of time. I'm going to defend my title, and I'm going to do the drug testing like everybody else. Once that's clear, we're done with that." However, Overeem is not letting the critics bother him. "For me, I just focus on myself," he said. "I'm always thinking about all aspects of the MMA game and my personal life, so that keeps me busy enough to keep me from dealing with critics all the time."

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Middleweight contender Tim Kennedy (11-2 MMA, 2-0 SF) will return to the promotion for the June 16 Strikeforce: Los Angeles card. Scott Coker announced the return on Saturday, although no opponent has been named yet. In addition to a solid record and an early career victory over Jason Miller and a win in his most recent fight against 10-0 Zak Cummings, Kennedy has also gained some attention due to his military service. He has served in the US Army, been to the Middle East multiple time and won a Bronze Medal Star for valour under fire.

With attendance of 8,136 for Saturday night's card in St. Louis, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker says a return to the city is a real possibility. This was the promotion's second trip to St. Louis, having drawn 8,867 to Lawler vs. Shields at the same venue. Fans even showed up early to catch the preliminary bouts. Coker gives a lot of the credit for the attendance to the man he calls the "Cung Le of St. Louis," Jesse Finney. Finney owns a gym in the area and is also a promoter, in addition to being an undefeated welterweight. Last night he submitted Justin DeMoney via guillotine choke in the first. Coker estimates that up to 20 percent of tickets were sold to students and friends of Finney, and local media coverage was focused on him. He was even asked to throw out the first pitch at Thursday's St. Louis Cardinals game. "Jesse no doubt had a big impact," Coker said. "It always makes it easier when you've got a guy like him on the card. It was a great crowd. You heard it. The fans really were into all the fights, top to bottom." Jesse also competed on the first Strikeforce card in St. Louis and had a similar impact. Coker is now considering giving the 5-0 Finney a shot at the promotion's welterweights, even if that means a card outside of Missouri. Jesse, we call him the Cung Le of St. Louis," he said. "This is his home base, and he has a really successful school here. He has his own promotions. And really, he could step back and say, 'Hey, I really don't want to help you guys.' But we had a conversation about a year ago, and he welcomed us with open arms, and we've become very good friends, and I'm very thankful for his efforts." Coker also had kind words for the city as a whole. "St. Louis is a great town, it's a great fight town, and it's a great sports town," he said. "We're excited to be here and have a show like this."

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During last night's Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery post-fight press conference, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that 145 pound Women's Champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos will defend her title against Jan Finney at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum. Santos was last in action at Strikeforce: Miami where she picked up a third round TKO victory over Marloes Coenen and defended her title for the first time. Despite a 8-7 MMA record, Finney has won four straight fights and five of her last six. She usually competes at 135 pounds. Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum is scheduled for June 26 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and will air live on Showtime. MAIN CARD -Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum, -145 Women's Title Fight: Champion Cristiane Santos vs. Jan Finney, -Josh Thomson vs. Lyle Beerbohm (If Healthy), -Cung Le vs. Scott Smith* * = Not officially announced by Strikeforce

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