From Alistair Overeem’s come-from-behind victory over Walt Harris to tight decisions and other surprises, our panel breaks down the biggest questions from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card.
It was an emotional Saturday night in Jacksonville as the UFC wrapped up its three-card stay in Florida. In the main event, Walt Harris came out swinging and nearly picked up a knockout victory over Alistair Overeem, only for the veteran Overeem to come back and take over the fight. After Overeem scored a second-round TKO, he embraced Harris, who was fighting for the first time since the death of his stepdaughter in late 2019.
The theme for much of the rest of the night was tight decisions. On the main card alone, Claudia Gadelha edged past Angela Hill by split decision, and Dan Ige did the same against Edson Barboza. Song Yadong won a unanimous decision over Marlon Vera, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in his favor, but that result was equally tight.
There’s a lot to unpack after this UFC Fight Night, and ESPN’s panel of Ariel Helwani, Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim are here to break down the biggest questions that Saturday night’s action raised.
All fights from UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris will be available to watch on ESPN+.
• Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris
• Claudia Gadelha vs. Angela Hill
• Dan Ige vs. Edson Barboza
• Eryk Anders vs. Krzysztof Jotko
• Song Yadong vs. Marlon Vera
• Matt Brown vs. Miguel Baeza
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Kevin Holland
• Irwin Rivera vs. Giga Chikadze
• Darren Elkins vs. Nate Landwehr
• Cortney Casey vs. Mara Romero Borella
• Rodrigo Nascimento vs. Don’Tale Mayes
Watch the complete card on ESPN+
Helwani: A couple of things come to mind: First off, my heart breaks for Walt Harris and his family. He has handled this situation with such grace, so it was tough seeing him on his knees after the fight, especially after he looked so good in the first round. Second, I’m not ready to count out Alistair Overeem just yet. If his fight against Jairzinho Rozenstruik lasts four more seconds, he is on an impressive four-fight winning streak right now. The knock on Overeem later in his career was his chin and, well, that doesn’t seem to be an issue at the moment, because he weathered a storm early in the fight when it looked like Harris was on the verge of stopping him. Overeem’s move to Elevation Fight Team has proved to be a huge success — what a run that team has had overall — and all of a sudden he appears to be a couple of wins away from being a player again at heavyweight. Never count out the Reem, who turned 40 on Sunday.
Okamoto: I don’t know if Walt Harris is ever going to figure it out. I really hate to say that, because the man is a terrific human being. I’m sure everybody is aware of the heartbreak he suffered last year, and for him to have even fought on Saturday was inspiring to see. I also hate to say it because he truly does have so much potential. I said this before the fight, as well; I actually remember watching Harris’ UFC debut in Las Vegas back in 2013, and I can specifically remember telling myself to keep an eye on him back then. And he lost that fight! But I saw the obvious athleticism and raw potential he possessed. And I’m not the only one. Din Thomas, a coach at American Top Team who currently trains UFC heavyweight Greg Hardy, told me Harris might be the best heavyweight athlete he has ever worked with. If Harris could put it all together, he could be a title challenger. But if you look at his career, he has never won the big fight, and after all these years, he is 7-7 in the UFC.
Raimondi: MMA is the most unforgiving sport in the world. Fairy-tale endings are hard to come by. Not only that, but the price of competition and the cost of defeat are steep. They come with potentially life-altering injuries.
Harris came within one or two more punches of finishing Overeem for what would have been the biggest win of his career — and one that would have meant everything to him, given his stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard was shot and killed just seven months ago.
Instead, the tables turned on Harris quickly, and in the second round, he was the one getting finished after an Overeem head kick. Just brutal. The victory was far from guaranteed. Overeem is a legend and remains a top heavyweight. But Harris came oh so close in that first round to getting that storybook ending. It didn’t happen. Heartbreaking.
Wagenheim: The main event was a testament to how much of the fight game revolves around emotion. When Harris hurt Overeem early but couldn’t finish him, you could almost see his gas tank empty out. Some of that was because of physical exertion — he threw 42 strikes in the first round, every one of them with full power behind it. But it seemed that Harris was emotionally depleted, as well. Fully understandable, considering the hell he has been through. It was gut-wrenching to see him like that, although heartening afterward to see Overeem and referee Dan Miragliotta offer their respect. That’s when the fight game is at its best: when the horn sounds and hostility morphs into honor.
Helwani: I thought Angela Hill won that fight 29-28. I thought she won Rounds 2 and 3, and I think the stats back that up. She outlanded Gadelha 37-29 in the second and 43-34 in the third. Now, the stats don’t always tell the whole story; I know this, but in this case, they kind of do. You could make a strong case that the judges got the first four main card winners wrong. I guess the one positive to come out of Gadelha winning is that we might see her in a rematch with Carla Esparza.
