''UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 115'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on September 2, 2017 at

Rotterdam Ahoy Rotterdam Ahoy (formerly known as Ahoy Rotterdam or simply as Ahoy) is a convention centre and multi-purpose indoor arena located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Opened originally in 1950, the current complex consists of three main venues: a fairs ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Background

A heavyweight bout between former

Bellator Heavyweight Champion Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded ...

Alexander Volkov and

Stefan Struve Stefan Jaimy Struve (; born February 18, 1988) is a Dutch former mixed martial artist who competed as a heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). At , he is the tallest fighter in the history of the UFC. Background Growing up in th ...

headlined the event. Promotional newcomer Abu Azaitar was expected to face

Siyar Bahadurzada Siyar Bahadurzada ( fa, سیار بهادرزاده; born 17 April 1984) is a retired Afghan-born Dutch mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He currently works as an instructor for ...

at the event, but pulled out in early August and was replaced by fellow newcomer Rob Wilkinson. Also in early August,

Islam Makhachev Islam Ramazanovich Makhachev (russian: Исла́м Рамаза́нович Маха́чев; born 27 October 1991) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and former Sambo competitor. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in ...

pulled out of a scheduled bout against

Michel Prazeres Michel Richard Cunha dos Prazeres (born July 25, 1981) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who fights in the Welterweight division. He most notably fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mixed martial arts career Early MMA caree ...

and was replaced by another newcomer in

Mads Burnell Mads Burnell (born March 6, 1994) is a Danish mixed martial artist who competes in featherweight division of Bellator MMA. Professional mixed martial artist since 2013, Burnell has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Ca ...

. On August 11,

Marcos Rogério de Lima Marcos Rogério de Lima (born May 25, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2009, he formerly competed for Strikeforce, Shooto, and was a co ...

was pulled from his bout against

Saparbek Safarov Saparbek Dibirovich Safarov (russian: Сапарбек Сафаров; born 14 October 1986) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who competes in the light heavyweight division. He competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial art ...

after being flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (

USADA The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

) for a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on August 1. Subsequently, Safarov was also forced from the card with a rib injury.

Nick Hein Nick Hein (born April 24, 1984) is a German retired mixed martial artist and actor, who is best known for appearing in the German television show Diese Kaminskis. Before Hein became an actor, he was also a national judo champion and police offic ...

was expected to face promotional newcomer

Zabit Magomedsharipov Zabit Akhmedovich Magomedsharipov ( rus, Забит Ахмедович Магомедшарипов; born 1 March 1991) is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist. He fought in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Champ ...

at this event, but pulled out on August 21 due to injury. Hein was replaced by promotional newcomer Mike Santiago . Former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion

Germaine de Randamie Germaine Martha de Randamie (born April 24, 1984) is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. Undefeated in sanctioned kickboxing bouts, she competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and was the first UFC Women's Featherwe ...

was expected to face

Marion Reneau Marion Elizabeth Reneau-Perez (born June 20, 1977) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed as a Bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career Reneau began her professional mixed martia ...

at the event. However, de Randamie pulled out of the fight on August 25 citing injury. She was replaced by promotional newcomer

Talita Bernardo Talita de Oliveira Neves Bernardo (born March 4, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist (MMA) who competed in the Bantamweight division in the UFC. Background Talita started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) at the age of 22, after she took ...

. At the weigh ins,

missed the lightweight limit of 156 pounds, coming in at 159 pounds. As a result his bout with Mads Burnell was changed to a catchweight and Prazeres was fined 20% of his purse.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: Alexander Volkov vs. Stefan Struve * Performance of the Night: Mairbek Taisumov and Zabit Magomedsharipov

References

{{UFC Events UFC Fight Night 2017 in mixed martial arts Sports competitions in Rotterdam 2017 in Dutch sport September 2017 sports events in Europe Mixed martial arts in the Netherlands

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References