Being a professional MMA fighter is a dangerous business, but the fights in Washington DC on Saturday night seemed to produce more damage than usual, as we ticked off a bingo card full of damaged body parts during a crazy night of fights in the American capital.
Here’s a quick fight night inventory:
1. ALISTAIR OVEREEM’S EXPLODING LIP
It was all going to plan for Dutch star Alistair Overeem, until our tip to win by KO Jairzinho Rozenstruik finally caught up with him in the final seconds of the fight.
Rozenstruik flew forward in the last few seconds and connected with a colossal right hand that not only sent “The Reem” crashing to the mat, it also exploded the Dutchman’s top lip.
Alistair Overeem was winning the main event of #UFCDC…until he lost in the last ten seconds ?
Jairzinho Rozenstruik lands a huge walk-off shot to keep his unbeaten streak alive ? pic.twitter.com/Gfj7JPFdfZ
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) December 8, 2019
I was there to see Robbie Lawler’s horrible sliced top lip at UFC 189 when he fought Rory MacDonald, but this one took gory cuts to a whole new level.
* N S F W *
Still smiling. #UFCDC pic.twitter.com/3ZnitW1COb
— UFC (@ufc) December 8, 2019
The stitching process must have been absolutely horrific.
Getting stitched up. Lip not to sexy at the moment.. a little bit a fast stoppage if u ask me – but hope u guys enjoyed the fight ?????????
— Alistair Overeem (@Alistairovereem) December 8, 2019
2. STEFAN STRUVE’S CRUSHED NUTS
They call Stefan Struve “The Skyscraper” for good reason. The big Dutchman stands a whopping seven feet tall, which makes knocking him out a (sound the pun klaxon) tall task for even the biggest of the UFC’s heavyweights.
Even “Big Ben” Rothwell struggled to land his shots on the towering Struve during their bout on the main card. But one place he seemingly had no trouble connecting with was Struve’s testicles.
Ben Rothwell delivers two nut shots and finishes Struve #UFC #UFCWashington #UFCFightnight #UFCnoCombate pic.twitter.com/0oiDg7snng
— GlendaleCardinals (@YotesGlendale) December 8, 2019
Rothwell was warned after a low kick left Struve in a world of pain in Round 1. Then he repeated the feat with another low kick to the pills in the second. Struve could have declared himself out at that point and the bout would have been adjudged a no contest, but he gamely decided to continue, and was promptly finished before the end of the second round.
Oh yes, and Rothwell even revealed after his fight he split a toenail when he landed that first kick to Struve’s nuts. Painful, for sure, but we know which of the two heavyweights we’d rather be right now…
3. ASPEN LADD’S EARDRUMS… AND YANA KUNITSKAYA’S HEAD
Aspen Ladd looks as innocent and quiet as you could imagine, so when she returned to her stool after two competitive rounds against Russian contender Yana Kunitskaya, you might have been shocked to see her coach going full Alex Ferguson and delivering an American version of “The Hairdryer” to the young fighter.
"You have to beat her up for five minutes! You punch the **** out of her face! You have to pick it up! Everything you have for five minutes!"
Aspen Ladd exploded from the corner. Aspen Ladd won the fight. Aspen Ladd is a smart lady.
Wow ?#UFCDC pic.twitter.com/kzxKhDITUL
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) December 8, 2019
As it turns out, the telling off proved to be just what Ladd needed, as she came flying out of the corner for the third and final round and battered Kunitskaya for an emphatic third-round stoppage victory.
4. MATT SAYLES’ ENTIRE BODY
With their all-action, full-on-attack fighting styles, Matt Sayles vs Bryce Mitchell was always going to serve up some memorable violence, and it was Mitchell who lived up to his fighting moniker of “Thug-Nasty” as he locked up one of the rarest – and most painful – submissions in MMA, the “Twister”, to finish Sayles with 40 seconds to go in the opening round.
"That is the most painful move in fighting!"
THUG NASTY! Bryce Mitchell gets just the second 'Twister' submission in UFC history!
Incredible scenes at #UFCDC ? pic.twitter.com/S8OFzMvUFm
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) December 8, 2019
The submission, which sees the attacking fighter take his opponent’s back, then lock up both the legs and the neck before simultaneously torquing both in opposite directions, is just about as painful as it gets. Imagine a Chinese burn, but for the ENTIRE BODY, as joints, bones, muscles and tendons are all twisted and stretched further than the human body is designed to stretch.
Who did it better? ?@ThugNastyMMA with just the SECOND twister in UFC history at #UFCDC! ?️ pic.twitter.com/y5SJBjYTTf
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) December 8, 2019
It was only the second time a Twister had finished a fight in the UFC and, after the fight, Mitchell tweeted to share a few of his favourite things with his followers:
5. TREVOR SMITH’S CHIN
We probably should have realised we were in for something special when we witnessed a stunning knockout in the very first fight of the night.
Makhmud Muradov is famous for being the first MMA fighter to join Floyd Mayweather’s TMT stable, and he showed off the sort of handiwork that Floyd himself would have been proud of as he lit up Trevor Smith like a Christmas tree before sending “Hot Sauce’s” gumshield flying into the stands with a massive right hand that sent him face-planting into the mat.
https://twitter.com/UFCEurope/status/1203456481166626816
Let’s go all the way for MMA on PP.com
