The UFC fight card for Rotterdam on September 2 is starting to take shape, following the announcement of four fights yesterday.
Headlined by the heavyweight match-up between Stefan Struve and Alexander Volkov, UFC Fight Night 115 at the Ahoy Rotterdam will also now feature Rustam Khabilov vs. Desmond Green, Francimar Barroso vs. Aleksandar Rakic, Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Saparbek Safarov and Bojan Mihajlovic vs. Abdul-Kerim Edilov.
Russian Rustam Khabilov, 21-3, is on a four-fight win-streak, all by decision, and will be making his first appearance of 2017 in Rotterdam. Desmond Green, 20-5, his opponent, is a New Yorker also on fine form – having won his last five fights – and won his UFC debut in April with a split-decision nod over Josh Emmett at UFC 210. The pair meet at lightweight.
Brazilian Marcos Rogerio de Lima, 15-5-1, has experienced patchy form since moving to light-heavyweight in 2014 and was last seen being submitted in the second round by Ovince Saint Preux. He’ll hope to fare better against Saparkbek Safarov, 8-1, who, like de Lima, is in need of a confidence boost following a TKO defeat to Gian Villante in December.
Another Brazilian, Francimar Barroso, will welcome promotional newcomer Aleksandar Rakic to the UFC when the pair meet at light-heavyweight. Barroso, 19-5 (1 NC), put right a controversial loss to Darren Stewart with an emphatic unanimous decision win over the Englishman in March. Rakic, meanwhile, a highly-rated Austrian, enters the UFC’s Octagon for the first time off the back of seven straight wins and carries an 8-1 MMA record.
Light-heavyweight Abdul-Kerim Edilov, 16-4, is another man making his UFC bow in Rotterdam. The talented Russian has won his last ten fights – all via stoppage, all inside one round – and now looks to step up in class against Bojan Mihajlovic, 10-5, a man who is 0-2 in the UFC and could do with a victory.
