THE UFC LEFT the home fans happy with their inaugural show in the Netherlands thanks to big victories for Dutch heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Stefan Struve.
Headlined by the meeting of Overeem and former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, UFC Fight Night 87 took place this evening in Rotterdam.
Aiming for his fifth straight win after a tough start to his time with the UFC, Overeem secured the victory after 1:12 of the second round thanks to a spectacular crane kick which was followed by a flurry of strikes as Arlovski went tumbling.
Afterwards, Overeem reiterated his calls for a shot at the winner of the heavyweight title bout between champion Fabricio Werdum and challenger Stipe Miocic, which headlines UFC 198 in Brazil next Saturday night.
In tonight’s heavyweight co-headliner, Stefan Struve needed just 16 seconds to dispose of former heavyweight title challenger Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva.
As the veteran Brazilian charged in, Struve clipped him with a nice right hand and added a damaging knee to the body as ‘Bigfoot’ desperately sought to force him back against the fence. Struve finished the job with — probably a few too many — elbows on the ground.
Earlier on the card, SBG’s Gunnar Nelson picked up a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus as he returned to winning ways by submitting Albert Tumenov, but there was disappointment for veteran Dubliner Neil Seery who put in a courageous performance as he lost out to the impressive Kyoji Horiguchi.
UFC Fight Night 87 results
- Alistair Overeem def. Andrei Arlovski via TKO (crane kick and punches) after 1:12 of round two
- Stefan Struve def. Antonio Silva via TKO (knee to the body and elbows) after 0:16 of round one
- Gunnar Nelson def. Albert Tumenov via submission (rear-naked choke) after 3:15 of round two
- Germaine de Randamie def. Anna Elmose via TKO (knee to the body and punch) after 3:46 of round one
- Nikita Krylov def. Francimar Barroso via submission (rear-naked choke) after 3:11 of round two
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Heather Jo Clark via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- 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) after 0:47 of round two
- Josh Emmett def. Jon Tuck via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Reza Madadi def. Yan Cabral via TKO (punches) after 1:56 of round three
- Kyoji Horiguchi 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) after 3:30 of round two
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