Are Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem on a collision course, or are they two shits passing in the night?

If you tuned in to Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers card you probably heard commentator Mauro Ranallo hyping a huge announcement to be made on Monday. Turns out the big news is that Strikeforce has signed glass-jawed former UFC heavyweight champ Andre Arlovski.

What? Oh, Arlovski inking a multi-fight deal starting with Antoinio “Big Foot” Silva on May 15 isn’t the big Strikeforce news?

Nope, turns out that heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem, who’s been MIA from Strikeforce for a couple of years now while he fought in Japan and Europe, has confirmed to MMA Junkie that he will defend his title on that same May 15 card and his likely opponent of Brett Rogers. Good news if it’s true. I won’t believe it until I see the cage door shit, er, shut behind Overeem.

As for Arlovski, laugh if you want but I’m not as quick to write the Bellarusian off no matter how suspect his chin. Sure, he lost his last two MMA fights. Okay, he got freight-trained by Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers (in that order). But before that he’d won five in a row. And he still only 31 years old. He may never be champ, but he’s a great gatekeeper and a recognizable (i.e. marketable) commodity. Strikeforce could use that right about now, Overeem or no Overeem.