No matter what happened in previous rounds, a MMA fight can change in a split second. All it takes is one vicious punch or kick to make it happen. UFC's Alistair Overeem found that out the hard way.
For most of the UFC on ESPN 7 heavyweight fight against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Overeem was in control. Then, in the fifth and final round, he was hit with a devastating right hand that not only lost him the fight, he also suffered a very gruesome injury.
Overeem's upper lip completely busted. Like, almost flew off his face kind of busted. It was a main event moment that had everyone on social media and Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. shook.
WARNING: The following images are graphic.
Alistair Overeem's Lip Injury
This UFC fight was actually never supposed to happen. Overeem was scheduled to face Walt Harris at UFC DC, but the original matchup was canceled after his stepdaughter's tragic death. Aniah Blanchard was just 19 years old.
That's when Jairzinho Rozenstruik stepped in and delivered the knockout loss to end Overeem's two-fight winning streak in the Octagon.
Just look at the image of his face.
The end of the UFC heavyweight fight in the final seconds didn't come without controversy, however.
The 39-year-old Overeem dominated the fight and the judges' scorecards would have reflected that. "The Reem" even bounced back up after Rozenstruik's right hook, but referee Dan Miragliotta called a fast stoppage and it resulted in the KO loss, plus a gruesome lip injury.
"Getting stitched up. Lip not to sexy at the moment.. a little bit a fast stoppage if u ask me - but hope u guys enjoyed the fight," Overeem posted on Twitter.
Losing a mixed martial arts fight you were going to win really sucks, but luckily Overeem wasn't hurt even more.
This article was originally published December 9, 2019.
