Heavyweight Derrick Lewis earned his sixth victory in a row
by coming from behind to stop Travis Browne at Sunday’s UFC Fight Night event
in Halifax.
“The Black Beast” clutched his belly in pain from Browne’s
body kicks, but the 32-year-old rallied and smashed through Browne’s guard with
uppercuts to complete his comeback.
While Johny Hendricks earned his first win at middleweight,
let’s take a look at six things we learned from this weekend’s bouts.
Lewis can move up
further in the heavyweight division
Indeed, ranked at number eight, Lewis is enjoying the best
form of his career and with his finishing instincts, active game on top and
steely mentality he can challenge for a spot in the top five. He never gave up
against Browne and once he’d recovered from a body assault in round one, he cut
off the distance and hammered his rival with uppercuts. Eventually Browne
crumbled to the mat and Lewis finished with ground-and-pound. Next up Lewis
could face the number six from France, Francis Ngannou.
Lewis performs an
entertaining post-fight interview
Of course, the Texan has always been a bit of an oddball,
but he took this to a new level with his hilarious post-fight interview. Was he
hurt from Browne’s tirade to the body? “No, I’ve just got to do a number two.”
Too much information, Derrick. The heavyweight then spoke of all the sex he’s
been getting recently, and Brian Stann must have used all of his restraint to
stay professional by this point.
Browne needs to trust
his instincts
On the other hand, Browne suffered his third defeat on the
spin and is falling into a habit of losing fights when he has the upper hand.
For instance, he hurt Andrei Arlovski before losing that war in 2015, and it
was the same story against Lewis. Browne boasted a 3.5 inch height advantage
and used it to connect with a range of kicks to the body and the head. But as
soon as he started taking punishment, he covered up and couldn’t fight back. Should
he have tried to clinch with Lewis? Should he have kept it at range with his
boxing? Browne now has plenty of soul-searching to do.
Hendricks has the
cardio to succeed at middleweight
Soon after Hendricks got his unanimous decision over Hector
Lombard, the former welterweight king grinned into a camera and yelled: “185
motherf---ers!” Judging by the way he scored knees and punches on the exit and
for the most part avoided going to the mat with Lombard, Hendricks’ delight was
understandable. Notching a win on his debut at middleweight, Hendricks looked
fresh at his new home, and his power and fitness should keep him around the top
ten. But does he has the size to compete in the higher division? His 69 inch
reach pales in comparison to the champion Michael Bisping’s 75.5 inch reach.
Marshman belongs in
the UFC
Also at middleweight, Welshman Jack Marshman suffered a
stunning knockout via a second round wheel kick from Brazil’s Thiago Santos.
But given the boxing prowess he showed in dropping Santos with a counter right
in the opener, he should be able to develop as a fighter in the UFC’s 185lbs
scene. Indeed, Marshman was unhappy with the stoppage and don’t be surprised to
see him lining up at a UFC event in Europe any time soon.
Tucker boasts nerves
of steel
Imagine making your UFC debut in your home country. And on
the main card, no less. You’ll hear UFC commentators discussing “Octagon
jitters” for UFC debutants, but that wasn’t the case for featherweight Gavin
Tucker, who landed kicks at will against Sam Sicilia before winning a unanimous
decision. Although Tucker’s opponents had a combined ledger of 37-46 before the
bout, the 30-year-old used his footwork and variety to dominate Sicilia. He
landed 60 strikes to his opponent’s 10 and even found time to showboat for his
home crowd. Nicely done.
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