UFC Washington: Overeem vs Rozenstruik - Dec 7 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

This one’s been getting overlooked due to Ruiz vs Joshua 2 and...Tito vs Del Rio. But it’s tonight. 

Jairzinho media scrum;

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WugZSVCFfR0

I like him. He’s not a soundbite guy but seems a good egg in everything I see of him. He’s got that confidence and laid backness that comes with being an 80-odd fight veteran. Got a feeling he loses this one though but whatever happens there’s a lot of potential there and he’s still relatively young. He could be around a while. 

Undercard is solid as well with Stamann vs Yadong and Alves vs Means standing out for me. Thiago Alves is still saying he’s going to test free agency after this fight, it’s the last one on his contract. I’d actually like to see him leave the UFC. He’s pretty much fought everyone there anyway and he’s kind of stuck in the same spot. I wouldn’t mind seeing him mix it up with Bellator’s 170 roster. 

[jimufctna24]

Just watched highlights of the main event. 

As dramatic as late stoppages are, especially in the dying seconds when the stoppage is forced by the fighter behind on the scorecards, I always feel bad for the fucker who gets stopped. To be that close from victory and have it taken away must be excruciating. 

Overeem's lip was a mess as well. 

[BrodyGraham]

Well that seemed like the most typical post USADA performance ever from Overeem.

Imagine hitting someone with some of the shots he landed on Rosenstruick and them barely phasing them. Then getting caught with that absolute murder fist of a hook. Heartbreaking. I love The Reem but it might be time to consider his options.

[wandshogun09]

Quite enjoyed this show. Had its dull points like most cards but on the whole it was really good. I think the break in shows before this probably helped as well. 

Jairzinho Rozenstruik...man! Talk about pulling a victory from the jaws of defeat. Apparently Rozenstruik was down 0-4 on all the judges scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Not sure I had it that wide but definitely had Overeem ahead. Jair pulling that shot out of the bag at 4:56 of the last round was unbelievable. And Overeem’s lip!! 

I think that’s even worse than Robbie Lawler’s in the Rory MacDonald fight. 

Felt bad for Overeem, to be fair. He got waffled and decked but popped up quick and Dan Miragliotta stopped it immediately. If Reem had been given those last 4 seconds and survived, he wins. So it’s harsh on him. Looking at how Reem looked when he stood up, he was stumbling and wobbling badly, and of course his lip was hanging off, so it wasn’t a the worst stoppage ever. But when you see Miragliotta practically pleading with Struve to carry on with the fight earlier in the night, but then stops the Reem fight as soon as his arse hits the floor, with 4 seconds on the clock...I don’t know. Given how the fight had played out, I think Overeem deserved more of a chance to fight through and see the final buzzer. Wasn’t like he’d been taking a beating prior to that punch landing. 

Marina Rodriguez vs Cynthia Calvillo felt weak as a co-main. Saw it was a draw but was a bit distracted and didn’t pay close enough attention to scoring it to agree or disagree. I liked what I saw from Rodriguez in the striking though. Looked like Calvillo got the better of the grappling, as expected. Looked a decent fight from what I saw. 

Ben Rothwell vs Stefan Struve, fucking hell man. Struve came out of retirement for this shit? Rothwell kicking his bollocks in? 

Hopefully Struve already has all the kids he wanted because even if he won’t retire, his balls certainly have now. Every time Struve fights I find myself just feeling sorry for him when it’s over. Shame as well because I actually thought Struve was looking better than he has in years before Big Ben went straight Andrew Golota on him. Thought Miragliotta trying to talk Struve into continuing the fight wasn’t right. Especially telling him he was winning rounds. What the fuck’s that? Not the best night for Big Dan all-round. 

Oh and fuck that crowd for booing Struve. 

Aspen Ladd vs Yana Kunitskaya wasn’t much good. And the first couple of rounds might’ve been the worst thing on the card. Ladd got there in the end though. She went full on beast mode in the third. Glad to see her back on track. Still feel like she’s one of the most promising prospects in the women’s side of the game easy. There’s better to come from her. She’s kind of caught between divisions I think though. I don’t think 135 is ideal for her but not sure she’s big enough yet for 145. 

Cody Stamann vs Song Yadong was an odd fight. I felt like Stamann got a raw deal here. When the fight ended I thought Stamann had pretty much kind of derailed the Yadong hype train. And when you factor in Yadong getting a point deducted for the dirty knee in the first round, I definitely had Cody winning. To have it a majority draw that means 2 of the judges would’ve had Yadong winning if not for the point deduction. Don’t see that at all myself. Stamann landed more strikes, scored more takedowns, passed guard a bunch and had the deducted point in his favour. Yadong had a half decent second round and not much else, IMO. 

Rob Font vs Ricky Simon was bags of fun. Really entertaining scrap to open the main card with. Font looked really sharp. Simon hasn’t had the best of years results-wise but he’s become someone I’ve really enjoyed watching this year. He brings it, win or lose. 

Prelims were where this card really delivered though, with finishes in 5 out of the 6 fights, a couple of them being spectacular ‘best of the year’ type finishes. 

Tim Means vs Thiago Alves was over before it even got going. Means looked good here. Exactly the kind of showing he needed coming off that bad knockout loss to Niko Price earlier this year. This was a disaster for Alves though. This was the last fight on his contract and he chose to test free agency rather than just re-sign. Obviously that gamble hasn’t worked out for him. 

Billy Quarantillo vs Jacob Kilburn was OK, although I had zero investment going in with them both being newcomers. It was alright though. Quarantillo’s triangle choke finish was pretty nifty. 

Bryce Mitchell stole the prelims though. Busting out only the second ever twister in UFC history...

And just two weeks before the first man to do it, the Korean Zombie, steps back into the Octagon. Mitchell looks good. 12-0 now with 9 subs and still young at 25 years old. Could see him becoming quite a popular personality as well. If he gives the Trump shoutouts a rest anyway. He’s got a kind of likeable redneck charm about him. 

Joe Solecki vs Matt Wiman was the only prelim to go to the judges and fuck me was it one sided. I’ll always have a bit of a soft spot for Wiman, ever since I saw him fight at UFC 85 in London against Thiago Tavares. He was getting his arse kicked that night and I still vividly remember Chuck Liddell (who was working Wiman’s corner that night) just silently staring a hole through him between rounds. Then Wiman came out like a madman and knocked Tavares out. One of my favourite MMA moments that I’ve witnessed live. Anyway, that was 2008. This wasn’t that. Wiman looks about done to me. At least against these young new breed guys anyway. Put him in with a Clay Guida or someone and maybe he’ll do better. But that’s Solecki and Luis Peña who’ve handed him a beating this year. 

Didn’t catch the Fight Pass bit but saw Makhmud Muradov absolutely murder Trevor Smith with one of the cleanest one punch knockouts I’ve ever seen in MMA...

Floyd’s boy is looking good.

So a fun night of fights all-round. 

[Egg Shen]

fucking hell, Smith got ironed out.

Missed the show but caught highlights of the main event on youtube. Gotta feel for Overeem, poor bugger. That lip though 😲

[wandshogun09]

3 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

fucking hell, Smith got ironed out.

He really did. Someone caught this pic of Buffer’s reaction to it and I think it captures the moment perfectly. I think everyone’s jaw hit the floor along with Smith’s. 

[David]

Poor old Overeem, he had played it perfectly until that last few seconds.

As much as everyone will be talking about the state of big Al's lip and the late stoppage, I saw absolutely fuck all to suggest that Rozenstruik can really make much of a dent in the heavyweight division. He's like a less physically imposing Ngannou, and I have zero doubt that if he comes up against someone with a halfway decent groundgame, he's fucked. He managed to make Overeem look like Cormier in those early rounds. 

But yeah, he'll be an exciting addition to the division, but I see him falling short when it gets right down to it.

[Egg Shen]

that said though, how many decent grapplers are there at heavyweight these days? there aint many, Overeem is actually one of the more rounded guys in the division, most of them just stand and bang so he'll probably do alright. 

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, Egg Shen said:

that said though, how many decent grapplers are there at heavyweight these days? there aint many, Overeem is actually one of the more rounded guys in the division, most of them just stand and bang so he'll probably do alright. 

Yeh, there really aren't many, which is why it's so mystifying they released Arjan Bhullar on the quiet, particularly with his record. 

Also, given the proliferation of wrestlers in the Russian Federation and the Caucasus states, I'm surprised we haven't seen more HW wrestlers coming in with this influx of fighters from those regions that brought Nurmagomedov and Magomedsharipov.

[Egg Shen]

UFC want heavyweights who will stand and trade though, thats where the fan interest is.

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, Egg Shen said:

UFC want heavyweights who will stand and trade though, thats where the fan interest is.

True, but eventually there are going to be HW wrestlers with records that become difficult to ignore. As much as UFC chase the money, they probably also know they need at least the semblance of legitimacy for their brand to continue to make the money that you associate with being the best in the world, and that means actually having the best in the world on your roster.

[jimufctna24]

How many decent heavyweights are there in general?

There is Miocic and Ngannou. DC if he still counts. The majority of the rest of the ranked UFC contenders are either has-beens or journeymen. 

[Egg Shen]

21 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

True, but eventually there are going to be HW wrestlers with records that become difficult to ignore. As much as UFC chase the money, they probably also know they need at least the semblance of legitimacy for their brand to continue to make the money that you associate with being the best in the world, and that means actually having the best in the world on your roster.

In any other division id agree, but heavyweight is a bit of a different beast. The heavyweights are abit of an attraction really and the stand and trade type guys are ones the UFC want. Im not saying that if a guy like Brock Lesnar rolled back around they wouldnt snap them but generally they want guys out there that throw leather. There are exceptions, Alexei Oleinik has been kept around but he's very much a guy who looks to finish on the ground.

Its not like the UFC doesn't give guys chances, they just seem to cut them first chance they get if they aint exciting which is what happened with Bhullar. It happened a few years back when Jarod Rosholt was in the UFC aswell.

[Egg Shen]

check this shit out:

 

 

[wandshogun09]

Sorry to bump a dead thread but just seen this and, fucking hell, Overeem got himself a fantastic surgeon...