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 got more of a fight than she expected from Heather Jo Clark. Some of those combinations were just lovely, and the movement she displayed in the third round was great. With this win she earns her second straight win in the UFC and remains undefeated overall.
Rustam Khabilov earns an impressive win against a very durable and versatile up-and-coming wrestler that gave him a tough fight that ended with him showing total control. He’s now 5-2 in the UFC with two straight wins after his last bout – a decision win against the also durable Norman Parke. Prior to that he had taken a year off after a loss to Adriano Martins, so he’s shaken off the rust and then some. His next fight should be even mo
Chris Wade – Yes, he lost. Did anyone expect him to do that well against Khabilov in the moments he did? Taking a higher level opponent on with short notice is admirable regardless of who it is. Going from Mehdi Baghdadi to Khabilov earns you some goodwill, and he still has time and room to grow and improve as a fighter.
Magnus Cedenblad – I always forget Cedenblad. Always. Not even sure why, because he’s been in the organization for four years now (April 2010), he’s 4-1 in the UFC and has some amazing finishes in that time along with that crazy decision win against Scott Askham. Yet he’s a middleweight, which is one of the strangest divisions aside from light heavyweight and women’s bantamweight in terms of establishing a concrete pecking order. Granted, his last fight was in October of 2014. It becomes easier to be forgotten about when you’re off for that long. Maybe after this win and another good performance he can make inroads to the top of the division.
Yuta Sasaki – Despite being a division that’s largely known for getting no love, Sasaki came in and made a statement by finishing a tough and wily fighter like Gates. Working his way in to neutralize Gates’ range and putting on a dominant performance that ended with building to a submission victory may not be as sensational as a knockout, but it’s coming into the big show and earning respect off the bat.
Kyoji Horiguchi – Wait, are we sure this is the same dude that fought Mighty Mouse not so long ago? He looked like a million bucks in that bout, and in a division as shallow as flyweight, he could very easily get another crack at Demetrious Johnson in no time. Whether or not he needs another win or two is worth considering, but it seems inevitable after that win.
Grappling nerds – I couldn’t have been the only one to squee when Yan Cabral cleverly retained mount after Reza Madadi’s attempts at standing up, or when Khabilov grabbed Chris Wade’s opposite ankle to regain control as Wade was turtled up. Maybe Gunnar Nelson’s clever use of top control and weight distribution? What I’m trying to say here is that despite the fact that they were small things, the grappling we saw had some flashes of great technical detail. In a sport where we sometimes see a rush to jump to the submission win, it’s great to see high level grapplers demonstrate that kind of proficiency even if it’s not a card that has the most massive consequences from top to bottom. That’s an encouraging sign of evolution in the sport.
Leon Edwards was pleasantly surprising as he was more dominant in grappling exchanges than Dominic Waters en route to a decision win. The former BAMMA champ is now 3-2 in the UFC. Reza Madadi continues to hit hard, and despite Cabral’s superior grappling, he couldn’t put away the Mad Dog. Josh Emmett continues to improve under Team Alpha Male and survived a third round onslaught to earn himself a win in his UFC debut. No, I have no desire to see that thing with his finger.
Losers
Andrei Arlovski – It’s always sad to see a fighter do so well and fight smart only to get finished like that. It’s bad enough that this is Andrei’s second straight KO/TKO loss, but it really seems that this was the second straight fight that could have conceivably netted him a title shot had he won. Now that’s off the table for sure
Bigfoot Silva – At least this was mercifully short. Perhaps Zuffa personnel should sit down with Silva and convince him to retire. Someone has to do something, because he can’t keep going like this. If he fights out his contract, there is no guarantee he won’t just jump over to another organization looking to profit off of his name value and experience only to have younger fighters beat on him relentlessly for a fistful of dollars.Having him continue to take this sort of brain trauma is just nakedly exploitative at this point. It needs to end. If i have to say something to keep things lighthearted, let’s at least consider that the new hair/beard combination makes him look like a Fallout 4 character, which is sort of a good thing.
Francimar Barroso – This loss puts him at 3-2 in the UFC, so he’s not getting his walking papers yet. Still, his wins aren’t the most exciting kind nor are there major signs of him making his way up the ranks or actually looking more dominant and exciting, either. Another loss and he’s very easily gone, and it seems like he’s just barely hanging on in the mid-to-lower tier as is.
Garreth McClellan drops to 1-2 in the UFC with a decision loss to Bartosz Fabinski in his debut and a KO win over Bubba Bush last October. He might get another shot, but the chances of that look grim. Yan Cabral is now 2-3 in the UFC and was signed after submitting Kazushi Sakuraba in DREAM (RIP) back in 2011. Since then he has a decision win and a submission win, but inconsistent performances, even in his wins. Neil Seery drops to 3-3 in the UFC and didn’t look like he was processing time and space the way Horiguchi was. It’s not a knock on him, but more of a statement on how much better Horiguchi looked and how bad a matchup this was for the former Cage Warriors flyweight champ. He may be cut as well after this loss.
Also falling to 3-3 is Jon Tuck, who looked like he was able to finish his opponent in the third with a ton of kicks, but it the fight game is cruel and cold and he may get cut as well. Dominic Waters falls to 0-3, so that’s a thing. Unfortunate, since he seemed like a good signing at the time. Willie Gates is guaranteed to be departing the organization as well as he falls to 1-3 after getting finished by the aforementioned Sasaki.
Neither
Albert Tumenov – The Russian prospect falls to 5-2 in the UFC, and he lost to one of the best grapplers we’ve seen in the sport. That shouldn’t set you back too far these days, especially at the age of 24. He’ll be fine.
Heather Clark – Perhaps she was expected to have gotten steamrolled here, but she did more than just hold her own against Kowalkiewicz and landed some great shots as well as hitting some takedowns and working her opponent against the cage. Her time at the Miesha Tate School of Mugging People is paying off, and the long layoff didn’t seem to affect her as much. Strawweight isn’t very crowded, so she may not fall too far here.
Anna Elmose – Coming in as a replacement fighter the way she did should be commended when taking on such dangerous striker, but that was a rough outing. She won’t lose much from this in terms of placement in the division, since the UFC isn’t big on signing too many female bantamweights. She’s already in the organization, brought forth a great effort, but got caught up playing a game that was too advanced. As soon as Elmose started to trade knees on a one-to-one basis with the taller and more accurate fighter, she was on the way to being finished. Big ups to her for stepping up, but her approach was wrong and her inexperience was certainly a factor. Here’s hoping she sticks around. Her KO-hunting style is something that Zuffa values, so she’s likely to get another chance.
Mightiest Daddy 
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