Alistair Overeem, who barely survived the first round, connected with a head kick and left hook to the face of Walt Harris early in the second to post an electrifying TKO victory in the main event of UFC Fight Night 176 held Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) at Jacksonville Arena, Florida.
Harris knocked Overeem down into the cage early in the first round with a left-right punch combination. Harris then mounted Overeem and busted open his right eyebrow and lip with ground and pound.
Overeem somehow survived the pounding, reversed positions and mounted Harris. Overeem used the time on top to clear his head although Harris managed to stand up just before the round ended.
As the two faced off at the center of the Octagon at the start of the second round Overeem connected with his left leg on the head of Harris then knocked Harris down into the cage with a left hook.
Overeem then mounted Harris who turned around and lay flat face down on the canvas with only his left hand protecting his face and head. Overeem then hit Harris on the face and ear repeatedly forcing referee Dan Miragliotta to stop the fight with three minutes remaining in the second.
The victory, the third in his past four fights, wheeled Overeem back into UFC Heavyweight title contention.
The fight was the third UFC event in eight days held at the one venue which ushered the return of bigtime sports events in the US after the lockdown meant to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
In the co-main event veteran Claudia Galdeha survived the spirited challenge of upstart Angela Hill to carve out a close split decision victory in their three-round fight. The busy Hill fought in her seventh (4 wins, 3 losses) UFC event in 14 months.
The stronger, stockier Gadelha took Hill down late in the first round. Gadelha struggled to gain side control as Hill managed to push the pair into the cage and eventually broke free.
Hill connected with a straight right flush on the face of Gadelha, early in the second, spinning her around and down into the canvas. Hill could not capitalize however as the referee stood up Gadelha. The two fighters then spent the rest of the second and third rounds trading at the center of the cage.
Earlier in the evening up-and-coming Dan Ige earned a similar close split decision victory over veteran Edson Barbosa.
In a more clear-cut victory Krzysztof Jotko posted a unanimous decision victory over Eryk Anders. Both fighters are relatively new to the UFC and were trying to gain a spot in the rankings. In a vicious battle of two men trying to carve out a spot as a middleweight contender, Jotko came out on top by a relatively small margin.
Jotko was the better striker as he connected on more of his blows and stuffed most of Anders’ takedown attempts. Jotko later celebrated his victory with a break-dancing celebration although he was apologetic at not being able to score a knockout victory.