UFC Fight Night Rotterdam Results: New Top Heavyweight Title Contender, Insane 16-Second KO, Overeem
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski was an interesting one, and for many reasons.
The show was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, which was a homecoming for event headliner Alistair Overeem. However, the bigger story was that Overeem was taking on fellow Greg Jackson protege and teammate Andrei Arlovski, a rarity in MMA. The fight caused a bit of a rift within the camp, even though Overeem seemed light-hearted before the bout.
Overeem controlled the duration of the bout, although Arlovksi had his flashes of brilliance as well. In the second round, Overeem dropped Arlovski with a savage front kick to the face, followed by a left hook. Overeem followed up on the ground with a dislocated toe from the kick. The ref stepped in, calling an end to the fight. Overeem said he wants a heavyweight title shot at the MSG PPV later this year, and then wants to defend the championship in the Netherlands next year.
Stefan Struve has had an up-and-down UFC career, and the 28-year old still has a long way to go as he's still one of the youngest heavyweights in the company. He'll be jumping back into the company's top-15 rankings after he made quick work of Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva with a 16-second TKO. Struve caught Silva coming in with his chin up and landed a big knee to the body that dropped 'Bigfoot.' Struve followed up with elbows to the head for the finish. After the fight, Struve honored his friend and training partner Jordan Parsons, who passed away last week.
Nikita Krylov continued his unlikely top-15 UFC Light Heavyweight run against Francimar Barroso. Krylov submitted the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt on his way to this fifth straight victory. Krylov, who has never been accused of being a technical machine, will likely see a top-15 opponent next.
Elsewhere on the show, top-10 Strawweight Karolina Kowalkiewicz welcomed Heather Jo Clark back from a year-plus absence and earned a unanimous decision victory. Former title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi was dominant in his win over Neil Seery as he climbed back up the 125-pound rankings. Germaine de Randamie dominated Anna Elmose, and may have stamped her card to fight Cris Cyborg later this year.
You can see the full results from UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski below.
Main Card
Alistair Overeem (#3) def. Andrei Arlovski (#5) via TKO (crane kick and left hook) at 1:12 of R2
Stefan Struve def. Antonio Silva (#12) via TKO (strikes) at :16 of R1
Gunnar Nelson def. Albert Tumenov via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:15 of R2
Germaine de Randamie (#14) def. Anna Elmose via TKO (knees) at 3:46 of R1
Nikita Krylov (#14) def. Francimar Barroso via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:11 of R2
Karolina Kowalkiewicz (#10) def. Heather Jo Clark via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Prelim Card
Rustam Khabilov def. Chris Wade via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Magnus Cedenblad def. Garreth McLellan via TKO (head kick and punches) at 0:47 of R2
Josh Emmett def. Jon Tuck via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Reza Madadi def. Yan Cabral via third-round TKO (1:56)
Kyoji Horiguchi (#5) def. Neil Seery via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Leon Edwards def. Dominic Waters via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ulka Sasaki def. Willie Gates via submission (rear-naked choke) (R2, 3:30)