Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem's next fight will take place in the Land of the Rising Sun, as he will face Ricco Rodriguez at DREAM.15 on July 10 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

News of the bout was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

It comes as no surprise that Overeem (33-11) is heading to Japan for his next fight, with the uncertainty surrounding his next title defense in Strikeforce. He was expected to be in line for a big money fight with former top ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, however, those plans were immediately derailed following Emelianenko's big upset loss to Fabricio Werdum on June 26.

Following Emelianenko's defeat, Overeem voiced his interest in a rematch with Werdum, however, Strikeforce may be leaning towards giving Emelianenko an immediate rematch with Werdum.

Overeem is currently on a nine-fight unbeaten streak, which includes a current five-fight winning streak. He most recently scored an impressive first round TKO win over Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: "Heavy Artillery" in May, which was his first fight with the San-Jose based promotion since November 2007.

Overeem hasn't suffered a defeat since Sept. 2007, where he was defeated by Sergei Kharitonov at a K-1 Hero's event. He has fought four times under the DREAM banner, picking up first-round stoppage wins over James Thompson, Mark Hunt and Tae Hyun Lee, while his fight with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic ended in a no contest.

Rodriguez (42-11) was expected to face Jeff Monson at a Impact FC event on July 18 in Australia, however, he will reportedly not be apart of that card anymore due to his decision to fight Overeem.

Rodriguez appears to have got his life back on track following years of substance abuse and weight issues, as he is now in the midst of a seven-fight winning streak, which includes a 4-0 mark so far in 2010. He is coming off a first round TKO win over Ken Sparks at a USA Mixed Martial Arts event on May 22. Prior to the wins, he went through a 1-2 stretch that saw him suffer losses to Jeff Monson and Mario Rinaldi.

During his 11-year career, Rodriguez has fought for an array of notable organzations such as WEC, Pride, Rage in the Cage, IFL, EliteXC, King of the Cage and perhaps, most notably the UFC, where he put together a 5-2 mark, and captured the promotion's heavyweight title.

DREAM.15 also features a lightweight title bout between current champion Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri.

*Alistair Overeem's trainer Martin De Jong has revealed that Overeem will not be facing Ricco Rodriguez at DREAM.15.

"Right now, I can just say he's not going to fight Ricco," De Jong told MMAjunkie.com. "And he's not sure if he's going to fight in DREAM."

De Jong also stated that Overeem's future with DREAM is up in the air due to a yet unknown dispute with the organization. Rodriguez is expected to remain on the DREAM.15 card and an opponent is currently being sought for him.*