Jairzinho Rozenstruik maintains unbeaten record with last-second KO win over Alistair Overeem
Former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem was four seconds away from sealing his third win on the bounce to reinsert himself into the UFC heavyweight title picture.
But Suriname’s Jairzinho Rozenstruik had other ideas.
Overeem controlled almost 25 minutes worth of fight action, using his MMA experience against his kickboxing counterpart.
The Dutchman was effective in the clinch, landed plenty of strikes to stifle Rozenstruik’s advances, and secured some nice takedowns to deliver punishment on the ground while nullifying his opponent’s strengths.
Overeem was on course to a routine win, but with less than ten seconds left of the bout, Rozenstruik threw a hail Mary. It landed.
Rozenstruik marched down the retreating Overeem and whiffed on a looping left hook before following up with a clubbing right which sent Overeem crashing down to the canvas against the cage.
Referee Dan Miragliotta called a stop to the fight after that single punch as Rozenstruik walked away in celebration. Any calls for an early stoppage were soon quashed once it was clear Rozenstruik’s winning blow had actually split Overeem’s top lip in half.
A stunning end to the bout and the unbeaten Rozenstruik – who was just seconds away from receiving the first blemish of his MMA record – showed why he is a man to be feared in an ever-increasing UFC heavyweight division.
UFC on ESPN 7: Alistair Overeem vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik full results
Heavyweight: Jairzinho Rozenstruik def Alistair Overeem by KO (punch) at 4:56 of round five
Catchweight: Marina Rodriguez vs. Cynthia Calvillo ended in a majority draw after three rounds
Heavyweight: Ben Rothwell def. Stefan Struve by TKO (punches) at 4:57 of round two
Women’s Bantamweight: Aspen Ladd def. Yana Kunitskaya by TKO (punches) at 0:33 of round three
Bantamweight: Cody Stamann vs. Song Yadong ended in a majority draw after three rounds
Bantamweight: Rob Font def. Ricky Simon by unanimous decision after three rounds
Welterweight: Tim Means def. Thiago Alves by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:38 of round one
Featherweight: Billy Quarantillo def. Jacob Kilburn by submission (triangle choke) at 3:18 of round two
Catchweight: Bryce Mitchell def. Matt Sayles by submission (twister) at 4:20 of round one
Lightweight: Joe Solecki def. Matt Wiman by unanimous decision after three rounds
Women’s Strawweight: Virna Jandiroba def. Mallory Martin by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:16 of round two
Middleweight: Makhmud Muradov def. Trevor Smith by KO (punch) at 4:09 of round three
