UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski – Winners and Losers

UFC’s European events have changed so much in recent years, exponentially for the better. There’s a lot of great talent from all over the continent now, and hungrier and more rabid audiences as well as the UFC’s willingness to market these events well and investing a lot into these events from a production and advertising standpoint. Going to the Netherlands with a few of their Dutch fighters on the main card was a great move, and it played well into the overall picture that they all due to their striking, which Dutch audiences have a great appreciation for. While it didn’t have the excellent pacing of a Fight Pass event, it offered some really good action and a bit of divisional clarity for some of the participants.

Winners

Alistair Overeem – Boom. Left hand of doom to seal the deal, just like that. He should undeniably be next in line for the title shot barring injury, and he’s undoubtedly the biggest winner of the night. Think about it this way: he fought out his contract with the UFC, likely leveraging his spot on the Rotterdam card into the contract negotiations, fights on home soil and finishes one of the most lethal strikers in his division while eating some shots and looking a bit more spry than he has in some time. He got paid, fought close to his old stomping grounds and stamped his ticket to finally get a crack at that belt. Even more notable was that he beat a guy being mentored by the top two coaches at his gym. Good on him, but now he needs to wait for the title picture to sort itself out after next week’s event.

Stefan Struve – As much as I want to focus on the positives (trust me, I really do), Struve’s win presents a series of problems. Yes, he looked good in his fight. Yes, he appeared reinvigorated and firing on all cylinders. Yes, he won and he got a finish. The first question is this: how big is this win to begin with? Beating up a depleted Bigfoot in his late 30s that’s been getting knocked out with such disturbing frequency isn’t as big an accomplishment, all things considered. I don’t want to rain on Stefan’s parade, he’s a great fighter that a lot of fans and observers have correctly noted has been very talented yet somewhat stagnant. It’s hard to gauge how much growth he’s experienced in such a short fight, but that’s also somewhat damning in this case. We should also remember that his last win was against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who was also remarkably overdue for retirement. Heavyweight is an amazing place.

Gunnar Nelson – Another excellent pairing that ended with a real treat on the ground from Gunnar Nelson. Making Tumenov carry his weight and begin to exhaust himself by constantly exploding in an effort to escape or get up was one thing, taking his shots while standing and continuing his grinding pace on the ground was another. Albert Tumenov is one of the most unheralded dangerous fighters out there, and Nelson made that look easy. I cannot emphasize on this enough, that was an outstanding display of grappling that led to the slow and steady approach to the submission win. Excellent way to get back on track for Nelson, bouncing back from the one-sided grappling drubbing he received in his last bout against Demian Maia.

Germaine de Randamie – Magnificent. de Randamie clearly had a bit of a feeling-out process, but the clinch work ended up breaking Elmose in the end. A big win in a division full of uncertainty is great, albeit against a promotional newcomer with a small record. Germaine is now on a two-fight win streak. It’s possible this fight may bring her into the top ten, but it’s not a guarantee.

Nikita Krylov – In the wise words of Method Man, my third eye seent it coming, before it happen. Did we not warn you? Do you need more evidence to see the beauty that is brought when the Ukranian God of Violence graces the cage. Barroso probably might have thought he had more of a reach advantage with his striking or that he could put him on his back at some point. That finishing sequence was nice, As predicted, nothing can stop Nikita Krylov (da GAWD). No need in even trying.

Karolina Kowalkiewicz – That was a gutsy performance with some very sharp technique, and she probably …

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