Who were the winners at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski? Click below to get the results for all the fights at Ahoy Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands on Sunday, May 8, 2016.
Overeem vs Arlovski | Silva vs Struve | Tumenov vs Nelson | de Randamie vs Elmose | Krylov vs Barroso | Kowalkiewicz vs Jo Clark | Khabilov vs Wade | Cedenblad vs McLellan | Tuck vs Emmett | Cabral vs Madadi | Horiguchi vs Seery | Edwards vs Waters | Sasaki vs Gates
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski main card
Main event: Alistair Overeem defeats Andrei Arlovski
The Alistair Overeem renaissance continues after a second-round TKO finish against Andrei Arlovski in the main event of Fight Night Rotterdam in front of his home country. Overeem landed a crane kick and a left hook to drop “The Pit Bull” before he swooped in and landed a series of rights to a downed Arlovski to earn the stoppage. That makes four straight wins for Overeem who made his case for the next title shot at heavyweight after the fight.
Co-main: Stefan Struve defeats Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
It took Stefan Struve just 16 seconds to put down Bigfoot Silva in the co-main event in Rotterdam. Struve landed a right hand, an upper cut and then a knee to the body to drop Bigfoot before the referee stopped a barrage of elbows to a downed Bigfoot.
Gunnar Nelson defeats Albert Tumenov
Gunnar Nelson came out and brought the fight to Albert Tumenov, landing punches and kicks to put the Russian on notice. Then Nelson landed a takedown midway through the round and beat Nelson up on the ground. The two went to the mat once again in the second round and Nelson proved to be superior, sinking in a rear naked choke to earn the submission win at 3:15 of the second round.
They said it:
Gunnar Nelson: “It’s huge. This win means everything to me. I take things one step at a time, like I always have. So now I’ll go back and train and wait to see what happens. I want to work on some of the things I experienced in there and keep learning. This is what I love about this sport, that’s who I am. I’m not too obsessed with rankings but we’ll see what happens next."
Albert Tumenov: “I’m very disappointed. Unfortunately this is the sport. Today wasn’t my day but I will definitely be back stronger. I’m not one of these fighters that wins one, loses one, wins one, loses one. I am here to be the best of the best and my time will come. I’m just going to get stronger and come back. You will all see me in the future
Germaine de Randamie defeats Anna Elmose
Muay Thai world champion Germaine de Randamie showed her world class striking from the clinch, landing a series of monstrous knees against Anna Elmose early and often before finishing the fight by knee to the mid-section at 3:46 of the first round. De Randamie is eyeing a run at the title and said as much after the fight. She is now 6-3 in MMA and 3-1 in the UFC.
They said it:
Germaine de Randamie: “I just wish I could do that walk out all over again. The crowd lifted me above earth, beyond anything I could ever have imagined. They made me feel like I was the UFC women’s bantamweight champion of the world when I walked out. So now, there is nothing else for me to do than to bring the belt home to them. MMA is a truly amazing sport. It’s a very diverse sport and it can be for everything and everyone – you don’t always have to fight. It can help you in so many ways. I hope that now I can continue, not only for the sport, but I want to continue to be a role model for little girls and little boys. I want to help young people to believe that if you want something, and if you believe in yourself, then you can succeed. No matter what you want in life; fight for it and you will get it."
Anna Elmose: “I feel good. I got a clean knee so I was out - like when you get punched in the stomach - so I felt unable to move and I couldn’t do anything about it. I wasn’t sure about being a bantamweight. I’m a really little bantamweight and I think that this fight settles it; I need to drop down a weight class. I felt she was just too big. I couldn’t get my game to come through. She was just physically too big for me. I know there is one flyweight bout happening already and I know there are a lot of bantamweights that want to drop down if there was the opportunity so I have to wait and see what happens there. What can I say? I’m strong but I’m small!”
Nikita Krylov defeats Francimar Barroso
Nikita Krylov is sneaky one of the hottest light heavyweights on the roster and the Ukraine-based fighter kept his momentum going in Rotterdam with a second-round rear named choke submission at 3:11 of the second round.
They said it:
Nikita Krylov: “I am happy with the win. He gave me his back and there was the finish for me to take. Before the fight I didn’t think about him as an opponent, but yes he was tough, his kicks were quite solid, his ground game was also quite good. When he punched me I could feel he was tough. Whoever they put me in front of next, I will prepare for him, I will face him and we will see."
Francimar Barroso: “I trained and trained and trained for this fight. Everyday we trained hard but it was not a good fight today for me. I just don’t know. Now I’m going to take some time to rest, go away and think about the fight today and what happened. After that, I'll get back to training."
Karolina Kowalkiewicz defeats Heather Jo Clark
Karolina Kowalkiewicz threw some serious volume at Heather Jo Clark, landing 164 total punches and 119 significant strikes to Clark’s 70 to earn a unanimous decision win (29-28, 29-28, 30-27). Kowalkiewicz moves to a perfect 2-0 in the UFC’s strawweight division.
They said it:
Karolina Kowalkiewicz: “I feel really good right now. I knew Heather was a very tough girl and I expected her to give me a tough fight so that wasn’t a surprise to me. Next I want to fight somebody from the top five in the division. I will be the champion one day, you will see."
Heather Jo Clark: “I just feel like I’ve let my team and my coaches down. I didn’t put it all together like I have been in training and I’m just disappointed in my performance. She came out a little harder than I thought. I thought she was going to hit and move a bit more but she stood and banged. I thought that I could get the better end of that deal and I didn’t. I should have hit more. I should have moved a lot, lot more and set things up instead of standing toe to toe because she was obviously getting the better of that and when it wasn’t working I should have come out with a different game plan and I didn’t. I tried but I didn’t stick to the change in game plan and that’s my fault."
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski FS1 prelims
Rustam Khabilov defeats Chris Wade
Rustam Khabilov and Chris Wade were predicted to engage in a wrestling war for the ages, but it was Khabilov who ended up dominating the grappling exchanges en route to a unanimous decision win (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). Wade landed a switch kick that seemed like it was going to finish Khabilov, but the Russian withstood the onslaught and came back to win the round on one judge’s scorecard.
They said it:
Rustam Khabilov: “I feel great. I expected his punches and I saw those coming but I didn’t see the kicks, so that changed the fight a bit but I was able to recover. Next I’d like to fight on the September card in Germany if the UFC gives me the fight. I want a higher ranked fighter, I just want to move up the rankings and keep going."
Chris Wade: “I’m just really disappointed. I came a long way and I didn’t come this far to lose. I’ve got a lot of thoughts racing through my head right now. I thought I got the better of the majority of the striking exchanges and I let him control too many of the grappling exchanges. I thought that I would be able to use my scrambling to come out on top of the exchanges but as the sweat started to build up from he and I, from the work we were putting in, I just couldn’t roll him any more or to use the things I usually use early on in fights. He was strong. It’s frustrating because I felt like I was sitting on the precipice of the top 15 and I had a lot of momentum. I felt my striking looked really good but my wrestling kind of failed me tonight. I got a little cocky with it."
Magnus Cedenblad defeats Garreth McLellan
Magnus Cedenblad pulled off the second standing TKO of the night when he finished Garreth McLellan with a head kick and flurry that followed at 47 seconds of the second round. Cedenblad notches his fourth-straight win in the Octagon.
They said it:
Magnus Cedenblad: “I’ve been so disappointed with my performances before this so today I finally reached close to the level that I feel like I’m at. There are still some missing pieces but it was a good result. I enjoyed myself and that’s the most important thing. For me, this was about being back and just having fun out there. It’s not always about winning or losing; it’s about enjoying life and having fun. I got to come here, hang out with my friends, be in Rotterdam and get in the Octagon and box, so it doesn’t get much better than that."
Garreth McLellan: “I’m really disappointed but it’s one of those things and it happens in this game. If you get kicked wrong and get hit by a stray punch then it’s over. I was looking to fight him over a few rounds and I battled at the beginning but I struggled to deal with his range a little. I started to find that distance but unfortunately I lost. I will just have to find where the mistakes are and make sure I do better next time."
Josh Emmett outlasted Jon Tuck despite suffering a severe finger injury in the third round to capture the split decision win (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). Emmett did more with his standup than Tuck to convince the judges to award him the fight.
They said it:
Josh Emmett: “I feel great besides the third round when he caught me on the hand with the kick. I felt good in the first and second rounds. It was just that one moment in the third and from then I had to fight with one hand. I’m excited to be here though and I really enjoyed the fight. I took this fight on four days’ notice so just wait until I get a full camp, then you will see what I can do.”
Reza Madadi defeats Yan Cabral
Reza Madadi recorded a standing TKO stoppage against Yan Cabral at 1:56 of the third round after a pretty even fight up to that point.
They said it:
Reza Madadi: “I swear, I have dreamed about this. Three years ago, I lost everything. Everything. It’s amazing to be back here after three years. Everything I lost, I feel like I’ve got back in one night. I don’t have any words to describe it. To be here, and to win in that way, it just doesn’t get better. First of all, I have God in my life. He is everything to me. Then I have my family, and my teammates are a part of my family. They have supported me from my very first day until today. It’s just amazing to be around all of these people who have always supported me. I cannot describe this feeling."
Yan Cabral: “I felt good during the fight but it’s just one of those things about fighting, you know. I just gave him the opportunity to land. Now I just want to go home, get some rest, re-group and rethink. I want to spend some time with my family and then get back to training. I just hope I get the chance to get back in there and prove the fighter, the warrior that I am."
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski FIGHT PASS prelims
Miss the first three fights? Watch the replay on UFC FIGHT PASS on demand
Kyoji Horiguchi defeats Neil Seery
A picture-perfect performance from Kyoji Horiguchi earned him his 17th UFC win after a unanimous decision victory over Neil Seery (30-26, 30-27, 30-27). Horiguchi was overwhelming against a game Seery, who took several blows that would have likely KO’d lesser opponents. Horiguchi landed 86-29 in significant strikes.
They said it:
Kyoji Horiguchi: “I’m so happy. Fighting in Rotterdam was so good. I am feeling the support of the fans more, and even tonight I could feel people cheering for me. It was amazing and I feel so happy to win. Now I’m going to go and celebrate and eat a hamburger!”
Leon Edwards defeats Dominic Waters
Edwards used his superior striking to dominate Waters in the standup en route to a unanimous decision win over Water (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Edwards landed 24 significant strikes to just three total for Waters.
They said it:
Leon Edwards: “I feel amazing. I’ve been working on my grappling and wrestling so I’m happy to go in there and show that I can wrestle, I can strike and everything. I thought he would do exactly what he did. I knew he’s not very active off his back, so I thought I’ll put him on his back. I’ll fight whoever. I just want to keep climbing and climbing and climbing. I want to be world champion. That’s my dream so I’ll just keep chipping away."
Ulka Sasaki defeats Willie Gates
Ulka Sasaki’s relentless wrestling attack led to two takedowns and the eventual submission victory. Sasaki made Gates tap with a rear naked choke at 3:30 of the second round to break a two-fight losing streak.
They said it:
Ulka Sasaki: “I’m really relieved. I spent a long time preparing to fight at flyweight. It’s clear that at flyweight there are no easy fights either. I think Willie was a really tough fighter, a good fighter so I’m relieved to win”
Willie Gates: “I’m just disappointed. He was just a better fighter than me tonight, and that’s it. I’m disappointed."
