Alistair Overeem staked his claim to a heavyweight title shot with a highlight-reel finish of former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski Sunday in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The heavyweight pair are teammates at the prestigious Jackson/Winkeljohn camp in Albuquerque, N.M., but it didn’t stop them from agreeing to fight one another.
Arlovski came out ultra aggressive early on, attacking Overeem with a barrage of punches in the opening minute of the fight, however the former Strikeforce champion covered up well. Overeem eventually took the fight to the ground and the first round ended with the Dutchman on top.
Roughly one minute into the second frame, Overeem landed a brilliant head-kick, left hook combination that sent Arlovski to the canvas. Overeem followed up with several punches and the referee stepped in.
Overeem’s big toe on his left foot was dislocated on the kick he landed, but it didn’t dampen his spirits following the bout. The 35-year-old predicted he will fight either Fabricio Werdum or Stipe Miocic on Nov. 12 when the UFC holds its first event at Madison Square Garden in New York. Werdum looks to defend his title against Miocic in the main event of UFC 198 next weekend in Brazil.
Sunday’s event marked the first time the UFC hosted a card in the Netherlands and Overeem’s first fight in his home country since 2009.
Stefan Struve, who also hails from the Netherlands, wasted no time in front of the boisterous crowd in the co-main event. The seven-footer finished Antonio Silva with strikes in just 16 seconds. He clipped Silva with a right hand as the Brazilian rushed in and finished the fight with a series of elbows when the two went to the ground. It marked the third-quickest finish in UFC heavyweight history. It was Struve’s first stoppage victory since he TKO’d Miocic back in 2012. Silva has now lost by knockout or TKO in seven of his last 11 fights.
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Struve vs Bigfoot #UFCRotterdamhttp://snpy.tv/275CJz2
Following his victory, Struve paid tribute to the late Jordan Parsons, a Bellator MMA fighter who died last week. Struve and Parsons trained together with the Blackzilians team in Florida.
Also on the main card, a showdown between rising welterweights ended when Gunnar Nelson submitted Albert Tumenov with a rear-naked choke. Nelson bounced back from a lopsided loss to veteran Demian Maia back at UFC 194 in December. Tumenov had his five-fight winning streak snapped.
Dutch striker Germaine de Randamie set the crowd at the Ahoy Rotterdam ablaze with a first-round TKO win over UFC newcomer Anna Elmose in women’s bantamweight action.
Strawweight contender Karolina Kowalkiewicz improved to 9-0 as a pro with an entertaining unanimous decision victory over Heather Jo Clark.
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Lightweight Rustam Khabilov, middleweight Magnus Cedenblad and flyweight contender Kyoji Horiguchi picked up impressive wins in preliminary action.
Here are the complete results from UFC Rotterdam:
MAIN CARD
— Alistair Overeem def. Andrei Arlovski by TKO
— Stefan Struve def. Antonio Silva by TKO
— Gunnar Nelson def. Albert Tumenov by SUB
— Germaine de Randamie def. Anna Elmose by TKO
— Nikita Krylov def. Francimar Barroso by SUB
— Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Heather Jo Clark by UD
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Rustam Khabilov def. Chris Wade by UD
— Magnus Cedenblad def. Garreth McLellan TKO
— Josh Emmett def. Jon Tuck Decision by SD
— Reza Madadi def. Yan Cabral TKO
— Kyoji Horiguchi def. Neil Seery by UD
— Leon Edwards def. Dominic Waters by UD
— Ulka Sasaki def. Willie Gates by SUB
