Walt Harris reacts following TKO loss to Alistair Overeem

Heavyweight fighter Walt Harris gave a heartfelt response following his TKO loss to Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC on ESPN 8.

Overeem, the former UFC heavyweight title challenger entered tonight’s fight coming off a knockout loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik. During that battle, “The Reem” lead the action until his opponent managed to flip the switch at the very end of the fifth round and achieve the KO win. Prior to his finish against Rozenstruik, Alistair Overeem was riding back-to-back TKO wins against opponents Alexei Oleinik and Sergei Pavlovich.

Meanwhile, Walt Harris returned to the Octagon for the first time since the tragic death of his stepdaughter, Aniah Blanchard last year. He revealed that the main event fight against Overeem was the opportunity to make his daughter proud. “The Big Ticket” entered the bout on a three-fight win streak, including recent wins against Sergey Spivak and Alexey Oleynik.

In the main event, Harris came out fast and sent Overeem down to the canvas with a big combo. He followed up with an onslaught of ground and pound. Not wanting to suffer the same fate as his last fight to Rozenstruik, Overeem somehow recovered and regained power on the ground. He delivered another strong performance in the second round, using a head kick and big right to secure the TKO victory.

The Big Ticket was understandably disappointed but remained humble in his defeat to Overeem.

“I would just like to say thank you, first and foremost to the UFC. They’ve been amazing through this whole process, my wife and my family are so grateful,” said Harris.

“You ain’t seen the last of The Big Ticket. I’m going to go home, recover. I’m going to heal emotionally and physically and I promise you I’ll be better.”

Watch his full heartfelt post-fight speech below:

“You ain’t seen the last of The Big Ticket. I’m going to go home, recover. I’m going to heal emotionally and physically and I promise you I’ll be better.”@thebigticket205 promises to come back stronger after #UFCFL pic.twitter.com/3BhucOwqJi

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 17, 2020