The best and worst from UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik

The UFC’s return to our screens after three weeks away was a welcome one, and UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik generally delivered up and down the card.

We got 8 finishes across the 12 fights on show; the various tributes to cancer victims over the night were classy, and the show also did a great job of hyping up next week’s big UFC 245 card as a must-see pay-per-view. All in all, the UFC did a good job here.

Here are the best and worst moments from UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik.

#1 Best: Rozenstruik arrives as a Heavyweight contender

Rozenstruik must now be considered a Heavyweight title contender

Okay, so I must admit that it pains me to put this as the “best” moment of the show, as those of you who read my work regularly will probably know that Alistair Overeem – along with Diego Sanchez – is probably my all-time favorite MMA fighter. And of course, last night’s show saw him finished in nasty fashion – left with a Robbie Lawler-esque slice in his top lip after Jairzinho Rozenstruik nailed him with a big right hand in the fifth round.

For the UFC though, the result was definitely a good thing. Overeem is 39 and his time as a title contender, realistically, has been and gone. Rozenstruik meanwhile is now 10-0 in MMA, 4-0 in the UFC and he’s knocked out everyone he’s faced. At Heavyweight, that makes him a bona fide title contender, even if this performance showed off his limitations – he looked somewhat lost on the ground and was clearly losing the fight until he landed the big shot late in the fifth.

Post-fight ‘Bigi Boy’ called out Francis Ngannou for a title eliminator, and if the UFC are indeed pursuing a Miocic/Cormier rematch for the Heavyweight title, then a clash between the Surinamese prospect and ‘The Predator’ sounds good to me.

#1 Worst: Poor judging mars the Stamann/Yadong fight

Cody Stamann was robbed by the judges in his fight with Song Yadong

The Bantamweight clash between Cody Stamann and Song Yadong was a pretty solid fight between two of the division’s better fighters all told, but it turned out to be marred by some horrendous judging. It appeared that Stamann had done enough to win at least two of the three rounds – probably the second and definitely the third – and as Yadong had suffered a point deduction due to an illegal knee in the first, it seemed clear that ‘The Spartan’ would have his hand raised.

Somehow though, the judges decided otherwise; one going with Stamann 29-28, but the other two calling the fight a 28-28 draw. I honestly can’t work out how; Stamann was never hurt by Yadong’s big striking power, he landed decent shots of his own, and he got more takedowns and controlled the Chinese fighter on the ground.

Stamann could’ve taken the easy way out last night and simply refused to continue after the illegal strike, and he’d have won via DQ that way. Instead he fought on, did a great job, and was robbed by the judges instead.

#2 Best: Ladd’s rush of violence nets her a big win

Aspen Ladd finished Yana Kunitskaya with a sudden rush of violence

The Women’s Bantamweight fight between Aspen Ladd and Yana Kunitskaya was probably the most dull on the main card – until the crazy third round finish from Ladd. Prior to that, the 24-year old Ladd seemed content to attempt to clinch with her Russian opponent, and it honestly wasn’t working – she couldn’t really get Kunitskaya to the ground and while the rounds were even, it seemed like anyone’s fight.

Ladd’s coach gave her a major motivational speech after the second round though, and it clearly worked; she came out with insane aggression in the third, decked ‘Foxy’ with a left hand and then finished her off with some savage ground-and-pound just seconds later. This was arguably an even better finish than her TKO of Tonya Evinger last year.

Where does Ladd go from here? Well, her loss to Germaine de Randamie was bad, but there was an argument that it was an early referee stoppage, and of course ‘The Iron Lady’ is now about to get a title shot. One more win could well net Ladd a shot at Amanda Nunes – and with her ground-based assault she’d be an interesting match for ‘The Lioness’, meaning the UFC should aim for a fight between the two in 2020.

#2 Worst: Rothwell’s low blows ruin his fight with Struve

Ben Rothwell's win over Stefan Struve was marred by two bad low blows

Stefan Struve’s fight with Ben Rothwell was a strange one from the off; both men seemed content to club each other with big blows with little in the way of defense, but early on it appeared to be Struve who was in control mainly due to his kicking game. But that all changed due to Rothwell’s own kicking game – a kicking game that involved him landing a pair of brutal low blows that completely wrecked the Dutch fighter’s chances.

Did Rothwell mean to kick Struve in the groin twice? Most likely not; ‘Big Ben’ has never been a dirty fighter and looked horrified with himself, particularly when the second one landed, but the truth is that it was clear by the second low blow that Struve was in trouble, and so ref Dan Miragliotta should probably have stopped the fight and disqualified Rothwell even if ‘Skyscraper’ disagreed.

Instead, Struve continued, clearly hurt, and was TKO’d just moments later. Realistically nobody wanted to see a fight like this, and the whole thing left anyone watching with a sour taste in their mouth.

#3 Best: The Twister!

Bryce Mitchell pulled off a rare twister to submit Matt Sayles

Nothing else needs to be said here, really. Some submission finishes – the rear naked choke, for example, or the armbar – are so common that they don’t tend to raise any eyebrows when a UFC fighter pulls them off. Others are much rarer – the heel hook, for example, or the Peruvian Necktie. The Twister, however, is the submission equivalent of something like the clouded leopard; we know they’re out there and they exist, but seeing them in the wild is damn near impossible.

Prior to last night the only Twister submission in UFC history came back in 2011, when Chan Sung Jung used it to force Leonard Garcia to tap out. Incredibly though, we now have our second Twister, courtesy of prospect Bryce Mitchell, who used it to submit Matt Sayles in the first round.

This was an unbelievable – and painful looking – submission, hardly surprising as it targets the spine and neck area, and nobody can be surprised that it earned Mitchell a nice $50k bonus. Hopefully now he’ll become known as the guy who pulled off the Twister – rather than being recognized for injuring his scrotum with a power drill!