UFC on ESPN 8: Results
UFC 8 on ESPN took place Saturday night and marked the third show the UFC has hosted amid the coronavirus pandemic. The UFC has been criticized by many media outlets for hosting fights during a global pandemic.
The last two events have been a success overall and the UFC show continued with a clash of heavyweights. The previously scheduled bout between top 10 heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris finally took place.
Alistair Overeem was the big winner on Saturday night, “The Demolition Man” got his 46th professional win over Walt Harris via second round TKO. Overeem, who turned 40 years old just minutes after his win, now has 65 professional fights in his MMA career and puts himself right back into title contention.
Alistair Overeem. (USA TODAY Sports)
Walt Harris has gone through unimaginable things that no man should endure. Saturday’s fight marked his return as the fight against Alistair Overeem was previously scheduled for UFC on ESPN 7 that later turned into Overeem v.s Rozensstuick.
Harris went through what no parent should ever have to go through. His 19 year old daughter went missing in a case that made national headlines and was later found deceased.
The whole MMA community rallied around Walt and showed respect for stepping into the Octagon. Harris has returned to fighting and although he lost he still viewed the fight as a win after everything he’s been through.
The co-main event was headlined by two tough straw weights Angela Hill returning to meet Claudia Ghadelia. Claudia took home the win in a razor-close split decision against Hill.
Angela Hill came in on a 3 fight win streak and looked to continue the momentum against top strawweight contender.
Not even a worldwide pandemic can keep Hill out of the octagon. The Alliance MMA fighter was happy to compete and marked her 7th fight in 14 months, which is unheard of.
But Hill faced a tough test against longtime top strawweight contender Claudia Ghadelia and came out on the wrong side of a somewhat controversial split decision.
Angela tweeted “I won that fight @danawhite. Book me on the island, Arizona, apex wherever and I’ll carve up more of your girls. Ready to go next week.”, voicing her interest to get right back in there.
Barboza stayed at the top of the lightweight division for several years and if you beat barboza a title contention was on the horizon.
Although Barboza won 9 fight bonuses he never broke in the championship contention. At 34 years old Barboza is still in his prime and was looking to reinvent himself at featherweight.
Though many believed a weight cut to 145lbs would be difficult, Barboza made weight and is looking in better shape than ever. He faced a tough test in Dan Ige who is coming off a 5 fight win streak and lost a split decision back-and-forth war over three rounds.
It has been a memorable run for the leader in mixed martial arts in Jacksonville, Fl., but the festivities finally came to an end.
The UFC closes out its 8 day 3 event run and is the first major sports entity in North America to begin running shows amid the coronavirus crisis.