Seattle Fights is hyped for this Heavyweight Bout as Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem takes on Walt “The Big Ticket” Harris. The Reem is coming off a last second 5th round KO loss to “Bigi Boy” Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a fight Overeem was clearly winning until the last four seconds of the fifth round. The Big Ticket enters the bout on a two-fight win streak.
Overeem has long been a combat sports hero for this writer. The second pay-per-view event I ever watched was the Overeem v Lesnar PPV card during which The Demolition Man showed Brock Lesnar who was the true mixed martial artist when he destroyed the gigantic fake wrestler with a huge body kick and punches along the fence. Overeem is true combat sports legend. The former heavyweight champion in Strikeforce and DREAM, as well as K-1 World grand prix Champion turns 40 tomorrow. Happy early birthday to The Reem!
Round 1
Harris starts by pressuring The Reem without striking. The Reem with a nice side kick. Harris knocks down Overeem with a 2-3 and does a ton of damage on the ground while Overeem does his best to defend. The Reem somehow survives and takes down The Big Ticket with 2 minutes left in the round. The Demolition Man in top position. Incredible comeback as he was dangerously close to being finished. Kudos to Dan Miragliotta for not stopping the fight. Overeem with top control repeatedly hammers The Big Ticket with left hands. Harris is exhausted with Overeem controlling him from mount. Overeem with two big knees to Harris’s body to end the round.
Seattle Fights round score – 10-9 Overeem (Harris may have done more damage but Overeem turned the tide and ended the round in dominant position for the last two minutes.)
Round 2
Harris clearly tired to start the round. Slow start to the round as both combatants appear to be recovering. Big head kick by Overeem hurts Harris badly. Overeem follows with a hard left hook followed by a hard right hook that drops the retreating Harris. It looks like the beginning of the end at this point. The Reem with top control on Harris’s back as he hammers The Big Ticket with punches from back mount. The Reem completely flattens out Harris and continues to hammer away. Referee Dan Miragliotta has seen enough and calls the TKO.
Huge comeback and great victory for The Reem. Big respect shown by each fighter to the other after the fight. Immediately after the stoppage, the affable and classy Overeem can clearly be heard telling Harris the two should train together in the future.
Official decision – TKO victory for Overeem at 3:00 of Round 2