Derrick Lewis did what he needed to on Sunday, fighting through gastrointestinal issues, he said, to knock out Travis Browne in the second round of UFC Fight Night 105’s main event.
The stoppage gave Lewis a six-fight winning streak, with five of those wins coming by way of knockout. Lewis’ streak is even more impressive when you consider each of those wins has come since October 2015.
Lewis’ win should set him up with a top-ranked heavyweight, but don’t expect Lewis to return to the octagon in the next few months.
“It’s causing trouble at home, because I’m walking around with an attitude all the time,” Lewis told MMAjunkie. “Because once I get in beast mode, I’m in beast mode all the way until fight day. I just want to relax my mind a little bit and work on things at my house.”
In the co-main event, Johny Hendricks enjoyed a successful middleweight debut, defeating Hector Lombard by unanimous decision. The win, Hendricks’ first since defeating Matt Brown in March 2015, has the former welterweight champion looking forward to big things at 185 pounds.
UFC Fight Night 105 took place at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Here are 10 memorable moments from the event.
Lewis appeared severely distressed in the first round. We can debate if that was the result of a stomach issue or the kicks Browne (18-6-1 MMA, 9-6-1 UFC) landed to his midsection, but what’s not up for debate is the fact that Lewis (18-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) worked through those issues to earn a brutal knockout victory.
Lewis then delivered a memorable post-fight interview where he tested the limits of Brian Stann’s composure. He followed that by arriving at the post-fight press conference with a miniature belt and proclaiming himself the interim heavyweight champion before delivering more eyebrow-raising quotes.
Through his throwback fighting style, social media presence and deadpan quips, Lewis has emerged as an unlikely star. Yes, that could all come crashing down in his next fight, but until then, let’s just enjoy the ride.
By the sound of things, Hendricks (18-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) was waiting for his cardio to fail during the third round of his middleweight fight against Lombard (34-7-1 MMA, 3-5 UFC).
“If I knew my third round was going to be as good as it was today I could have pushed harder in the second round, I could have pushed harder in the third round,” Hendricks told MMAjunkie.
Now that he knows he can cruise through three rounds at 185 pounds with ease, Hendricks said he is excited about what the future holds for him at middleweight.
Hendricks was practically giddy with his win, and at the age of 33 it seems his confidence is at an all-time high, which is a big change from the man who was debating retirement before this fight.
The featherweight division got more interesting with the debut of Gavin Tucker. Tucker embarrassed 12-fight UFC veteran Sam Sicilia, using speed and footwork to dominate the fight from start to finish, cruising to a unanimous decision win.
Tucker (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) never stopped moving throughout the fight, and his confidence seemed to grow with each whiffed strike attempt from Sicilia (15-8 MMA, 5-7 UFC).
Despite his dominant performance, Tucker said he actually “had to play it real safe” during this fight.
It’s rare for a fighter to call out a fan during his post-fight interview, but that’s what Elias Theodorou(13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) did after beating Cezar Ferreira(16 MMA, 7-4 UFC) by unanimous decision.
“One thing I want to say, a shoutout to Dean Pascoe, who messaged me on Twitter,” Theodorou said. “I hope your word is bond that if I say your name aloud that you will get a tattoo of my face and my hair.”
It didn’t take long for the tweet in question to resurface, and with the pressure on, Pascoe seemed to accept Theororou’s offer to fly him to Toronto to get that tattoo.
Former women’s bantamweight title contender Sara McMann made quick work of Gina Mazany, submitting her in 74 seconds via an arm-triangle choke. McMann’s post-fight performance was equally notable.
Instead of immediately celebrating her win, McMann (11-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) displayed excellent sportsmanship, helping Mazany (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) to her feet and offering her words of encouragement. McMann then took some time to make one of the most courteous calls for a title fight.
“I want my title shot,” said McMann with a smile. “I should get one with two submissions in a row and another win over a top-ranked opponent.”
Team Rofusport took two fighters to Halifax and left with two first-round stoppage wins.
In the opening fight of the event, Gerald Meerschaert (26-8 MMA, 2-0 UFC) moved to 2-0 in the UFC, stopping Ryan Janes (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in just over 90 seconds. A little later Paul Felder (13-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) earned a TKO win over Alessandro Ricci (10-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC).
Both finishes were beautiful in their way.
Meerschaert used his slick submission skills to get a quick armbar in his middleweight bout, while Felder ended his lightweight contest with a brutal short elbow to the nose of Ricci.
An upset win over a former UFC champion is sweet, but when that victory also comes over a fighter you have a personal history with it makes it even sweeter. That’s what Randa Markos experienced, earning a split-decision win over former strawweight champion Carla Esparza.
After the fight, Markos (7-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) delivered an anti-bullying speech, and in case you were wondering, her words were directed at the way Esparza (11-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) treated Markos during season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
“The stuff I went through, it was clear bullying,” Markos told MMAjunkie. “I have a niece at home, and she’s being bullied right in school, and it really breaks my heart. I know what it feels like. I’ve been bullied in school and then I’m an adult now, and I was on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and I was being bullied as an adult. It really needs to stop.”
The loss is a huge setback for Esparza who hoped a win over Markos would set her up to once again challenge for the strawweight title.
You often hear that a fighter fails to perform to their potential in their UFC debut, that the bright lights and big stage cause them to freeze up. Aiemann Zahabi did not fall victim to that type of anxiety in his first UFC bout. Zahabi looked comfortable and confident throughout his bantamweight fight against Reginaldo Vieira.
Zahabi’s confidence seemed to swell as the fight progressed, and his hands got lower and lower. That slipping defense left Zahabi (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) open to a few too many strikes in the third round when Vieira (13-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) upped his offensive output. Despite the late surge, Zahabi took the decision win.
With his perfect record and famous last name (he is the younger brother of famed trainer Firas Zahabi), expect Zahabi to get a lot of attention from his fellow bantamweight competitors.
Thiago Santos was on a two-fight losing streak heading into UFC Fight Night 105. With that in mind, Santos couldn’t have felt too comfortable even though he was favored in his middleweight matchup against Jack Marshman.
Santos’ confidence probably took another dip when Marshman dropped him with a right near the end of the first round.
Between rounds, Santos’ corner told him to keep his distance and not brawl with Marshman (21-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC). Santos (14-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) took that advice to heart, using his kicks to keep his opponent at distance.
It was one of those kicks that earned Santos the win as well as his second career “Performance of the Night” bonus. Halfway through the round, Santos uncorked a highlight reel spinning heel kick that dropped Marshman and led to a quick stoppage.
The most important job of an MMA referee is to protect the fighters from unnecessary damage. Mario Yamasaki failed in that task in a big way in the main event, letting Browne take at least three undefended strikes to the head from Lewis.
And while Lewis said he appreciated Yamasaki allowing him to land those punches, most were unimpressed with Yamasaki’s performance, including UFC president Dana White. White sarcastically referred to Yamasaki on Twitter as referee Steve Mazzagatti, an official White has called “dangerous” and “a nice guy, but … not a referee.”
For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 105, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
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