The Skyscraper @StefanStruve makes the walk on home soil!!#UFCRotterdam pic.twitter.com/0uGrazD8r1
— #UFCRotterdam (@ufc) September 2, 2017
On Saturday, the UFC returned after a month hiatus with a UFC Fight Night event full of intriguing matchups and up-and-coming fighters.
In the main event, Alexander Volkov fought Stefan Struve in a pivotal heavyweight battle. Both top-10 heavyweights were fighting to prove who deserved to be in title contention in their division.
Struve was the first fighter to land a punch in the fight. Volkov landed some strikes of his own, but Struve seemed to land the more effective strikes. Struve went for a head kick, but Volkov caught it and briefly got the fight to the ground. Both fighters then started trading punches. Struve had success landing uppercuts throughout the round. Volkov landed a knee to the body that seemed to hurt Struve. Volkov got the fight to the ground after Struve landed a flying knee. Volkov unloaded on the ground for the remainder of the round.
Struve was the aggressor early in the round, but Volkov managed to land shots as well. The fight was halted due to Volkov getting poked in the eye. Both fighters traded punches when the action continued. Volkov began landing multiple hard punches to the head. Volkov then got poked in the eye again. When the action continued both fighter traded punches and kicks. Volkov began to land more volume and unloaded on his opponent in the final seconds of the round.
Early in the third round, Struve was on the receiving end of an eye poke. Both heavyweights continued to trade punches when the fight continued. Volkov landed clean combinations of punches on Struve. Volkov then dropped Struve and finished the fight.
Official Result:
Alexander Volkov def. Stefan Struve by TKO (Round 3)
VOLKOV!!!#UFCRotterdam pic.twitter.com/CvnkXR5aXB
— Jonnyboy (@Jonnyboy_6969) September 2, 2017
LET'S GOOO!! #UFCRotterdam pic.twitter.com/uolsGnLp9w
— #UFCRotterdam (@ufc) September 2, 2017
Ohhhhh @AlexDragoVolkov landing hard shots here in round 2!! #UFCRotterdam pic.twitter.com/BVSCJxG9wF
— #UFCRotterdam (@ufc) September 2, 2017