Alistair Overeem Matched Up Against Ben Edwards on K-1 World GP Final 16

Alistair Overeem is heading back to the K-1 World GP Final 16 to continue his quest for holding championships at both K-1 and MMA. His first opponent has been officially announced, confirming rumors that the Strikeforce heavyweight champ will face Ben Edwards.

Overeem, who is ranked by HeadKickLegend as kickboxing's #3 heavyweight, will be facing a guy they have at #25. Don't be fooled though, as Edwards is one of K-1's most dangerous up-and-comers. Dave Walsh talked about the matchup:

Imagine your first K-1 Grand Prix, your first time on the big stage where you can prove your mettle to the world. Then, imagine winning it, never mind that, imagine dominating that, and then to top it off, you make a new K-1 record for quickest Grand Prix victory. That is the life of Ben Edwards.

... This fight will be nothing short of an offensive war, with neither man known for letting a fight go the distance and leaving a trail of carnage behind them. Edwards is an aggressive brawler who has never seemed overly concerned with defending when he can be attacking, while Overeem likes to bully his opponents with muay thai sweeps and frustrate them into dropping their defenses for his brutal knees and precise hands.

The odds will be high as the winner goes on to the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals in December and gets their chance to be the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix champion.

After the jump, BE reader memitim talks about Edwards' chances of getting the upset.

You may not have heard of Ben Edwards. He has been a terror on the Aussie kickboxing scene for a few years now. He is an absolute beast. The 25 year old Edwards hails from Australia. He stands at 6' 3" and weighs 254 pounds. In this year's Oceania GP, Edwards set a new K-1 record for the fastest win in K-1 GP tournament history. It took Edwards a total of 3:28 to complete his win, defeating K-1 veteran, Paul Slowinski, in 56 seconds in the final bout. In the quarterfinals, Edwards displayed incredible power by knocking out Faisal Zakaria in spectacular fashion with a crushing right.  Edwards style displays no fear as he quickly engages and throws hands, heavy hands. We have seen Alistair finish opponents with devastating swiftness, but when he is challenged by a hard hitting fighter his chin has shown weakness.

... No doubt Overeem will be the favorite going into this bout and he should be. Edwards is still building his resume in K-1 while Overeem is a star in the field of competitors. Still, watching Edwards fight and witnessing the crushing power he has in his right hand I can easily see this as a quick exit for Overeem. Edwards is exactly the kind of fighter that Overeem has trouble with and he could be looking at an early ticket home and no payday for the rest of the year. Regardless of the outcome it is a great first round bout. This year's World GP should be special.

I certainly don't agree with his criticism about Overeem's chin, but I do agree Edwards has a decent chance of pulling it off. Either way, this should be a very entertaining match up.

Also announced for the card, is a bout between Kyotaro and Jerome Le Banner, and Daniel Ghita taking a wild card slot. Other fighters who are reportedly participating include, Semmy Schilt, Ewerton Teixeira, Ruslan Karaev, Errol Zimmerman, Badr Hari, and Freddy Kemayo.