UFC Fight Night in Hamburg, Germany was an exciting night of fighting. You had a main event of Andrei Arlovski Vs. Josh Barnett. A superfight that was decades in the making. Both men are staples in the MMA world.
This was a fight that we almost saw back in 2008 but it just didn’t happen back then. Fast forward to 2016 and both men went to war in the cage in Hamburg, Germany. This was a very technical fight on both sides. Arlovski wanted to keep setting up his amazing right hand whereas Barnett was intent on not giving him the opportunity.
Barnett kept the pressure on Arlovski and in the first few minutes of round one both men landed significant strikes. Once Barnett was wobbled but he got back up and landed a great punch to Arlovski’s jaw that made Arlovski take a knee.
Barnett is a Catch Wrestling practitioner and you could count on him to throw strikes and get inside of Arlovski and work the grappling game. However the first takedown in the match went to Arlovski with an outside leg reap that sent both men to the mat.
Finally in round 3 Barnett takes and accidental thumb to the eye. He turns his back and walks off towards the cage after suffering the accidental foul. The Ref didn’t see the foul and didn’t call any stoppage, so Arlovski took advantage and landed a good strike to Barnett’s face. Shortly after that Barnett recovered and both men were back on the mat. Barnett immediately started to isolate Arlovski’s arm to set up a double wristlock (Kimura) but couldn’t get the position. Hearing his corner’s instruction Barnett started to ground and pound Arlovski, who eventually turned over and exposed his neck as Barnett took his back and sank in the Rear Naked Choke. Within seconds Arlovski tapped and Barnett walked away with the win! What a great fight by both warriors!
Other great fights on the card were Bader Vs. Latifi and Gustafsson Vs. Blachowicz! Both fantastic fights that you can watch on replay on UFC Fight Pass.
Check out the video here:
http://watchbjj.com/technique/josh-barnett-reversals-and-textbook-double-wristlock/
