The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Germany yesterday for UFC Fight Night 93 in Hamburg.
The event was headlined by a heavyweight tilt between former UFC champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett.
After an exciting back and forth first-round which saw both fighters (Arlovski and Barnett) get rocked by punches, Barnett was able to utilize his grappling skills to smother Arlovski in rounds two and three.
‘The Warmaster’ would eventually sink in a choke midway through the fights third-round which forced Andrei to tapout.
In the evening’s co-main attraction, former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson scored a unanimous decision victory over a very game Jan Blachowicz. The Polish fighter was arguably getting the better of ‘The Mauler’ in the stand-up game but the versatile Swede was able to score some big takedowns and control Blachowicz on the ground on route to a decision win.
Also on the card was an intriguing light heavyweight showdown between Ryan Bader and Ilir Latifi. ‘Darth’ was able to catch Latifi with a devastating knee in the second-round which left Ilir out cold on the canvas.
The full UFC Hamburg Athlete Reebok pay included:
Josh Barnett: $10,000
def. Andrei Arlovski: $20,000
Alexander Gustafsson: $10,000
def. Jan Blachowicz: $2,500
Ryan Bader: $15,000
def. Ilir Latifi: $5,000
Nick Hein: $2,500
def. Tae Hyun Bang: $2,500
Jessin Ayari: $2,500
def. Jim Wallhead: $2,500
Peter Sobotta: $5,000
def. Nicolas Dalby: $2,500
Ashlee Evans-Smith: $2,500
def. Veronica Macedo: $2,500
Taylor Lapilus: $2,500
def. Leandro Issa: $2,500
Christian Colombo: $2,500
fought to a majority draw with Jarjis Danho: $2,500
Jack Hermansson: $2,500
def. Scott Askham: $2,500
Rustam Khabilov: $5,000
def. Leandro Silva: $5,000