Overeem moves on to meet Antonio Silva in a Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament semifinal bout.
Werdum with a looping high kick that's blocked and a knee that lands early. Werdum trying anything for a takedown early and the crowd boos. Brief clinch sees Overeem land a knee to the gut. Overeem misses a right and Werdum successfully pulls guard but he lets Overeem up. He pulls guard again and again Overeem gets up. Werdum is throwing strikes but Overeem isn't phased by them. They clinch and Overeem just throws Werdum down. Werdum pulls guard with 15 seconds left but he has no time as the round ends.
Werdum catches a kick and ends up on top briefly and then appears to hurt his knee a bit and gets up slowly the next time. Werdum is getting Overeem down but Overeem keeps getting up at the first sign of anything. Overeem ends up in Werdum's full guard a little more than halfway through the round. Seems like both men are resting here. Werdum becomes more active and Werdum gets up with 1:40 left. Werdum now eating knees in an effort to pull guard. He gets it and nothing happens in the minute before the round ends.
Werdum comes out firing to start the third but can't really get much going. Werdum gets guard but again can't do anything. Werdum is landing shots and pulls guard again. Crowd chants "stand them up" as we hit the 90 second mark. Overeem in Werdum's guard and neither doing much of anything. Overeem stands with 35 seconds left. Werdum gets a kneebar late but there's no time left.
The scores were 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 for Overeem.
Overeem is undefeated in 10 bouts (9-0, 1 NC) since 2007. Werdum hadn't fought in 51 weeks since his shocking submission win over Fedor Emelianenko last June.
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum coverage