UFC Fight Night 115: Volkov vs. Struve | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Conor McBragger
- May 20
- 7 min read
Table of Contents
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 115: Volkov vs. Struve took place on Saturday, September 2, 2017 at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands — broadcast exclusively on UFC Fight Pass. The card drew 10,224 fans for a gate of $900,000. It was the second UFC event held at Rotterdam Ahoy, following UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski in May 2016. The main event was a heavyweight bout between former Bellator HW Champion Alexander Volkov and Dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve.
Volkov stopped Struve by TKO at 3:30 of round three despite having a nasty cut opened under his left eye early in the fight. Both fighters entered the bout ranked in the UFC’s top ten heavyweight division. Volkov and Struve earned Fight of the Night. Mairbek Taisumov and Zabit Magomedsharipov earned Performance of the Night. Magomedsharipov was making his UFC debut. Aleksandar Rakic also made his UFC debut on the card. Leon Edwards and Darren Till each won welterweight decision victories.
Rotterdam’s Second UFC Card & A Fight Pass Morning Show
Rotterdam Ahoy is a multi-purpose arena with capacity of approximately 14,000. The UFC’s May 2016 Rotterdam debut — UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski — drew 10,421 fans. The September 2017 return drew 10,224 — slightly below the debut’s attendance but commercially consistent. The Fight Pass exclusive format removed the card from US television entirely; North American viewers watching live faced an early morning start. The 12-fight card produced six KO stoppages, four decisions, and two submissions.
Stefan Struve’s hometown narrative was the card’s primary commercial draw. At 6‑7”, Struve is the UFC’s tallest-ever fighter — a Dutch heavyweight whose career had been defined by his combination of physical freakishness and submission finishing. His Rotterdam hometown appearance was his first UFC fight in the Netherlands and the card’s most commercially significant individual booking for the Dutch MMA market. Marcos Rogerio de Lima had been scheduled for the card but was pulled on August 11 after being flagged by USADA for an out-of-competition sample collected on August 1.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, September 2, 2017 (2nd UFC Rotterdam event; first since May 2016)
📍 Venue: Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands
👥 Attendance: 10,224
💰 Gate: $900,000
📺 Broadcast: UFC Fight Pass EXCLUSIVE (no US TV)
🏆 Main Event: Alexander Volkov vs. Stefan Struve — Heavyweight (both top-10 HW; Struve hometown fight; Volkov former Bellator HW champion)
✅ Result: Volkov def. Struve via TKO (punches) — R3, 3:30 (FotN $50k each; Volkov overcame nasty cut under left eye; controlled R2-3; finished in R3)
Main Event: Volkov Stops Struve Despite Nasty Eye Cut
Struve’s first-round attack opened a cut under Volkov’s left eye that bled consistently and required doctor inspection. The cut created a visual narrative of vulnerability that the crowd responded to. Despite the cut, Volkov’s technical boxing and movement controlled the fight’s structure. His jab established the range that Struve’s wingspan advantage could not overcome.
By round three, Struve’s output had reduced. Volkov’s punch accumulation from the outside produced the sustained pressure that led to the TKO at 3:30. The finish was a measured technical stoppage rather than a dramatic KO — the product of a competent heavyweight controlling range against a larger but slower opponent. Volkov’s ability to finish despite his compromised vision and the sustained bleeding from the eye cut was the fight’s defining individual quality.
Zabit’s Debut PoN, Rakic’s Debut, Till, Edwards & The Card
Zabit Magomedsharipov’s UFC debut earned Performance of the Night and produced one of the year’s most visually memorable individual performances. The 25-year-old Azerbaijani-Dagestani featherweight brought an unorthodox spinning and kicking style that produced his debut finish in style. Mairbek Taisumov’s first-round KO of Felipe Silva at 1:24 earned the other Performance of the Night. Aleksandar Rakic’s UFC debut — a LHW fight — was the card’s other debut of future divisional significance.
Leon Edwards’ unanimous decision over Bryan Barberena (29-28x3) was a step in his WW career’s building phase. Darren Till’s unanimous decision over Bojan Velickovic (30-27x3) continued his European card win accumulation. Michel Prazeres’ north-south choke submission of Mads Burnell at 1:26 of round three was his third consecutive north-south choke bonus of 2017 — an unusual repeated submission pattern that established him as one of UFC’s most technically distinctive welterweight finishers.
Full Results
Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Alexander Volkov def. Stefan Struve — TKO (punches) — R3, 3:30 — HW (FotN $50k each; both top-10 HW; Volkov overcame nasty eye cut; former Bellator HW champion)
Siyar Bahadurzada def. Rob Wilkinson — TKO (punches) — R2, 3:10 — MW (dropped Wilkinson with right hand; down 3x; stoppage)
Marion Reneau def. Talita Bernardo — TKO (punches) — R3, 4:54 — Women’s BW (Bernardo replaced de Randamie on short notice)
Leon Edwards def. Bryan Barberena — Unanimous Decision (29-28x3) — WW (Edwards building win streak; future UFC WW champion)
Darren Till def. Bojan Velickovic — Unanimous Decision (30-27x3) — WW (Till building European record; future UFC WW title challenger)
Mairbek Taisumov def. Felipe Silva — KO (punch) — R1, 1:24 — LW (PoN $50k)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Michel Prazeres def. Mads Burnell — Submission (north-south choke) — R3, 1:26 — LW (Prazeres’ 3RD CONSECUTIVE north-south choke bonus of 2017!)
Rustam Khabilov def. Des Green — LW
Aleksandar Rakic def. Francimar Barroso — LHW (RAKIC’S UFC DEBUT; future top-5 LHW contender)
Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Mike Santiago — [finish] — FW (PoN $50k; ZABIT’S UFC DEBUT; unorthodox spinning/kicking style; future top FW contender)
Artem Edilov def. Bojan Mihajlovic — LHW
Thibault Gouti def. A. Holbrook — LW
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Alexander Volkov + Stefan Struve — $50,000 each
🥇 Performance of the Night: Mairbek Taisumov + Zabit Magomedsharipov — $50,000 each
Records & Milestones
• Zabit Magomedsharipov’s UFC debut PoN — the opening of a FW career that produced a top-5 ranking and unbeaten UFC record through 2021.
• Aleksandar Rakic’s UFC debut — the beginning of an LHW career that produced wins over Volkan Oezdemir, Anthony Smith, and Thiago Santos.
• Michel Prazeres’ 3rd north-south choke bonus of 2017 — an exceptional repeated submission technique record for one calendar year.
Legacy & Impact
Zabit Magomedsharipov’s Rotterdam debut launched a UFC FW career that went 6-0 in the UFC (7 fights, one no-contest) before his 2021 title shot fight against Brian Ortega at UFC Fight Night 196 in October 2021. His unorthodox striking and finishing quality made him one of the division’s most discussed individual performers from 2017 to 2020. Aleksandar Rakic’s debut opened a LHW career that produced wins over multiple ranked opponents and an interim LHW title fight against Jiri Prochazka at UFC Fight Night 206 in May 2022, where Rakic suffered a non-contact knee injury in round one.
Leon Edwards’ Rotterdam win over Barberena was one step in the building phase of his WW career. From September 2017, he went on a 10-fight unbeaten run that culminated in the UFC WW Championship at UFC 278 in August 2022 — the head kick KO of Kamaru Usman with one minute remaining. Darren Till’s Rotterdam win added a data point to the European card record that produced his title fight against Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 in September 2018.
FAQ
Who was Zabit Magomedsharipov before his UFC debut?
Magomedsharipov was a 25-year-old fighter born in Azerbaijan who grew up and trained in Dagestan, Russia. He had competed in Russian MMA promotions and the ACB promotion before his UFC signing. His professional record was 14-1 entering Rotterdam. His fighting style — combining spinning kicks, backfists, and unorthodox striking angles with genuine BJJ grappling quality — was distinctive even by the diverse-technique standards of elite UFC featherweights. His Rotterdam debut PoN was the first public demonstration of that style to a global UFC audience.
Who was Aleksandar Rakic before his UFC debut?
Rakic was a 26-year-old Austrian fighter of Serbian descent who had gone 10-0 professionally before his UFC signing, with seven finishes. He had competed in the KSW promotion and regional European circuits. His LHW debut against Francimar Barroso — a Brazilian veteran with UFC experience — was a credible step-up. Barroso’s submission and KO finishing ability made him a legitimate test. Rakic’s subsequent UFC LHW career produced wins over multiple ranked opponents before his 2022 title fight.
What was Prazeres’ north-south choke pattern?
The north-south choke is applied from the north-south position — a top-control position where the practitioner faces the opponent’s feet. It compresses the neck from a different angle than a guillotine or rear-naked choke. Michel Prazeres applied the technique three consecutive times in 2017 across FN106 (Fortaleza, vs. Josh Burkman), FN109 (Stockholm, vs. Ben Saunders), and FN115 (Rotterdam, vs. Mads Burnell). The repeated application of the same advanced submission technique three times in bonus-worthy fashion is nearly unprecedented in UFC history.
What was the significance of Leon Edwards’ Rotterdam win?
Edwards was a 26-year-old Jamaican-born Birmingham, England welterweight with an 11-1 UFC record entering Rotterdam. His win over Bryan Barberena — a durable, aggressive finisher — demonstrated his ability to control and outwork finishing-threat opponents over three rounds. Rotterdam was step nine of the 10-fight win streak that ended only with the 2021 draw against Belal Muhammad (later overturned to a No Contest). His career trajectory from Rotterdam to the UFC WW Championship at UFC 278 was one of MMA’s most patient championship-era builds.
What happened with Marcos Rogerio de Lima’s USADA situation?
De Lima had been scheduled to fight Saparbek Safarov on the Rotterdam card. USADA notified the UFC on August 11 that de Lima had returned a flagged out-of-competition sample from August 1 — 22 days before the event. He was pulled from the card as a result of the provisional suspension. De Lima had previously missed weight by four pounds at UFC FN108 in Nashville in April 2017 and lost to OSP by Von Flue choke. The Rotterdam provisional suspension added to a series of competitive and compliance complications in his 2017 UFC calendar.
What was Stefan Struve’s significance for the Dutch MMA market?
Struve is from Doetinchem, Netherlands, and at 6‑7” is the tallest fighter in UFC history. His Rotterdam appearance was the Dutch MMA community’s most significant domestic UFC event since the 2016 Rotterdam card featured fellow Dutchman Alistair Overeem in the main event. Struve’s submission threat and physical freakishness had made him one of the UFC HW division’s most discussed individual performers, but consistent injuries and limited physical conditioning had prevented him from sustaining contendership. His TKO loss to Volkov in front of a home crowd was a bittersweet competitive conclusion.
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