UFC Rotterdam, a successful first UFC event in The Netherlands, highlighted by a clean Dutch sweep.
Rotterdam Ahoy! hosted the UFC’s first Dutch adventure and wins for Alistair Overeem, Stefan Struve and Germaine de Randamie gave the new market a serious boost.
With three wins on the board for the home talent, what challenge will they face next?
Alistair Overeem
It was a remarkable night for Alistair Overeem in Rotterdam. Not only performing in front of his home fans for the first time since 2009, but also for his Karate-Kid-like finish of Andrei Arlovski. A swift jump kick followed by a bruising left hook, it was a dream homecoming for ‘The Reem’.
After his win over Arolvski it’s clear Overeem will meet the winner of this weekend’s UFC Heavyweight title fight in Brazil. Fabricio Werdum defends his strap against Stipe Miocic at UFC 198.
35 year-old Overeem stated his intentions to face the winner of that fight on the UFC’s debut New York show in November. Then? Amsterdam could play host to his first title defence in 2017 – what a scene that could be for the Dutch faithful.
Stefan Struve
It took just 17 seconds for Stefan Struve to dispatch Antonio Silva at UFC Rotterdam- the quickest finish of the night. Despite a decision loss to Jared Rosholt last November, it always seemed a mismatch with Silva only winning one of his last five fights.
A huge career rematch could be next for ‘The Skyscraper’, a rebooking of his 2013 TKO loss to Mark Hunt. The New Zealander recently re-upped with the UFC and following his finish of Frank Mir in March, a battle against Struve would certainly pose interest.
Germaine de Randamie
With all the hype surrounding UFC newcomer Anna Elmose, Germaine de Randamie’s chances at UFC Rotterdam were overlooked by most.
‘The Iron Lady’ of MMA is a veteran of Strikeforce, but has gone largely unnoticed thus far in her career. At the age of 32, however, de Randamie has catapulted into the spotlight with her stoppage of Elmose.
Strong clinching and viscous knee strikes, everything about de Randamie’s win in Rotterdam was superb.
AKA’s de Randamie is already listed at #14 in the UFC 135lb rankings and a fight against Raquel Pennington (#9) seems to make the most sense. Pennington herself is fresh off a decision over Bethe Correia last month.
