By Jim Edwards

UFC were back in Europe last evening in Hamburg, Germany for UFC Fight Night 93.

The event was headlined by former UFC heavyweight champion, Andre Arlovski, taking on former PRIDE champion, Josh Barnett, with an undercard featuring a whole host of up and coming European talent.

 
Josh Barnett overcomes Andrei Arlovski

Barnett versus Arlovski was a fight perhaps absent of immediate consequences, but it was an entertaining headliner none the less with the two heavyweight veterans both big fan favorites.

By the time the main event had come around, the capacity crowd in the Barclaycard Arena were due a spectacle after a drab undercard that was littered with decisions—thankfully they got one.

The fight started at 100mph with both men meeting in the center of the Octagon and exchanging big hands that saw both their knees buckle. From there, the two clinched up against the cage and Arlovski scored with a clever trip to put Barnett on his back. Arlovski seemed tentative to go to the mat with the American so the fight was stood back up by the referee. With the fight back on the feet, Arlovski scored with a few stinging strikes before the round was out.

The pace slowed dramatically in the second as the two clinched against the cage for the first minute and a half. After a referee enforced separation, they briefly exchanged hands again, but the fight continually kept ending up against the cage in a stalemate of clinch work.

A telling moment occurred with 90 seconds left in the second round as both men fell to the mat off an attempted Arlovski trip. Barnett landed on top and quickly worked into full mount where he proceeded to lay on ground and pound before the end of the round saved Arlovski.

Round three began with the two boxing at range and exchanging big hands. Arlovski looked to have Barnett in trouble with a left hook, but Barnett covered up well and managed to trip his opponent to the mat and work his way into mount. After a brief period of ground and pound, Arlovski gave up his back Barnett quickly locked in the rear-naked choke to get the tap.

Gustafsson returns to winning ways

In the co-main event of the evening, Alex Gustafsson returned to Octagon following almost a year on the sidelines and pulled out a hard-fought decision victory over Poland’s Jan Blachowicz.

Gustafsson had difficulty with Blachowicz on the feet early in the fight, but he took the fight to the ground on multiple occasions where he maintained control for long periods using short, sharp elbows. After dominating everything but the opening minute, the Swede took the unanimous decision 30-27 on all three scorecards.

Hein and Bader record victories on the undercard

Kicking off the main card, Nick Hein won a unanimous decision over Tae Hyun Bang, while Ryan Bader cemented his place at number #4 in the light heavyweight rankings with a picture perfect knockout of Ilir Latifi in the second round of their fight.

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Earlier in the evening, British middleweight, Scott Askham, faced Swedish-Norwegian debutant, Jack Hermansson on the undercard in what proved to be one of the better fights of the evening. After a brutal back and forth minutes where both men had their bright spots, it was Hermansson who got the nod on the cards taking over a unanimous decision on his first UFC outing.
 

UFC Fight Night Hamburg Full Result
 
Main Card

Josh Barnett def. Andrei Arlovski via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 3, 2:53
Alexander Gustafsson def. Jan Blachowicz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Bader def. Ilir Latifi via knockout (knee) - Round 2, 2:06
Nick Hein def. Tae Hyun Bang via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-28, 30-27)
 
Preliminary Card

Jessin Ayari def. Jim Wallhead via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Peter Sobotta def. Nicolas Dalby via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26 30-26)
Ashlee Evans-Smith def. Veronica Macedo via TKO (elbows) - Round 3, 2:46
Taylor Lapilus def. Leandro Issa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Christian Colombo vs. Jarjis Danho declared a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
Jack Hermansson def. Scott Askham via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Rustam Khabilov def. Leandro Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)