On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 221, Luke Rockhold’s dreams of reclaiming the UFC middleweight title were temporarily dashed by a savage salvo of punches from Yoel Romero. It was a tough moment for Rockhold and his fans, but one that is characteristic of the brutal and beautiful sport of mixed martial arts.
In a Sunday morning post to Instagram, UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem briefly discussed Rockhold’s loss, and how abrupt and decisive defeats of this kind are simply a part of the sport of MMA.
“This is by far the toughest, but yet the most beautiful sport in the world,” Overeem said in his post. “No teammate to pass [to], no substitutes, no halftime shows and when things are going south you got to deal with it quick before it’s over. Sometimes it’s just over. You wake up and it’s all over. This is one of the reasons why I, and most of you love this game. Double or quits, heaven or hell, sink or swim. Plain and simple. Congrats to [Yoel Romero] and a much respect to [Luke Rockhold] who will come back stronger than ever.”
Profound stuff from Alistair Overeem.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/12/2018.