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Last night’s UFC Fight Night card wasn’t the most highly anticipated, but in terms of the action it produced, it was pretty decent overall.
UFC Fight Night: Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac saw a total of seven finishes in 11 fights, a solid ratio given many of the fighters in action were lesser-known. Will any of these finishes propel these fighters to stardom? In all honesty, it’s hard to say, but they were definitely fun to watch.
Here are the five best finishes from UFC Fight Night: Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac.
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#5. Anshul Jubli defeated Jeka Saragih in a UFC lightweight bout
The finals of the second season of Asia’s ‘Road to UFC’ tournament took place on last night’s preliminary card. One of the best finishes was produced by India’s Anshul Jubli.
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He stopped Indonesia’s Jeka Saragih in the second round of their lightweight bout, becoming the first Indian fighter to claim a victory in the octagon in the process. Jubli looked excellent throughout the fight, producing some good takedowns in both the first and second rounds and largely dominating Saragih on the ground.
The finish came in the second. Jubli looked like he was hunting for a submission win, but when it became clear that Saragih was perhaps too slippery for that, the Indian changed tack.
Instead, he decided to smash his foe with ground-and-pound, finally ending things by hammering him with punches from full mount.
Whether Jubli can go onto full UFC success remains to be seen, but he definitely seems to have the physical skills to make a good go of things. This was a great finish to start him off.
#4. Adam Fugitt defeated Yusaku Kinoshita in a UFC welterweight bout
Given that he was up against a fighter who’d been labeled as the ‘Japanese Conor McGregor’ thanks to his counterpunching skills, Adam Fugitt was definitely one of last night’s big underdogs.
After all, he’d shown very little in his octagon debut last July and seemed to be positioned as a sacrificial lamb against the debuting Yusaku Kinoshita. Instead, though, Fugitt dug deep and produced one of the best finishes of the night. If anything, he was unfortunate to miss out on a $50k bonus.
Fugitt showed toughness to absorb a big head kick and then took the fight to Kinoshita. He hurt him badly with a flurry of strikes before taking him down to finish him off with brutal ground-and-pound.
Overall, Fugitt’s performance was an excellent one. Even if it turns out to be his lone victory in the octagon, he’ll remember it for the rest of his MMA career.
#3. Tatsuro Taira defeated Jesus Santos Aguilar in a UFC flyweight bout
The best grappling performance on last night’s card definitely came from Tatsuro Taira. The flyweight contender impressed in his submission win over Jesus Santos Aguilar and should climb into the UFC’s 125-pound rankings this week.
Early on, it looked like Taira, who already had two octagon wins to his name previously, might be in trouble. He found himself caught in an early guillotine that looked pretty tight, but Aguilar couldn’t get the angle right for a tap and the Japanese prospect escaped.
From there, he sliced through the newcomer’s guard, locked him up in a triangle choke, and then switched off to a triangle/armbar combination to force him to submit.
It was slick work, especially given that it came against a fighter with six submission wins of his own to his name.
The win was enough to quite rightfully net Taira a $50k bonus, and at 13-0, he should definitely be seen as a genuine contender for the flyweight title going forward.
#2. Serghei Spivac defeated Derrick Lewis in a UFC heavyweight bout
The biggest winner last night in terms of advancing their cause into UFC title contention was definitely Serghei Spivac, who defeated former heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis in the headliner.
However, ‘The Polar Bear’ did not simply ground Lewis until he could claim a decision win. Instead, he ran a grappling clinic on him, taking him down with ease on three occasions with throws before tapping him out with an arm-triangle choke.
Everyone knew Lewis’ big weakness was his ground game, but ‘The Black Beast’ hadn’t been dominated quite as easily as this since his 2018 loss to Daniel Cormier, one of the all-time greats.
The fact that Spivac’s win could be compared to something produced by ‘DC’ is massive in its own right. Unsurprisingly, the submission won the Moldovan a nice $50k bonus.
Whether he’d be able to repeat the feat against a fighter in his physical prime remains to be seen, but ‘The Polar Bear’ now holds wins over Lewis and Tai Tuivasa, something that can’t be sneezed at.
He’s a genuine contender, however you look at it.
#1. Rinya Nakamura defeated Toshiomi Kazama in a UFC bantamweight bout
While it didn’t win the Fight of the Night, perhaps due to its short length, the most action last night was produced by Rinya Nakamura and Toshiomi Kazama.
The two bantamweights went toe-to-toe in a truly wild fight that lasted just 33 seconds, before Nakamura ended things with an explosive left hand. In the process, he won the Road to UFC tournament in the process.
Given his unbeaten record of 6-0 and his history as a potential Olympic wrestler, Nakamura came into the bout as the big favorite. Nobody could’ve expected him to fight quite so recklessly, though, and it almost cost him.
Kazama came out all guns blazing and tagged him with a handful of early punches, but it was immediately clear that Nakamura was the more powerful fighter. He absorbed his opponent’s shots and then dropped him with a right hand.
Kazama did get back to his feet, but as he continued to swing reckless punches, Nakamura timed him perfectly with a left hand, dropping him dead before landing one coffin-nail punch for good measure.
This was a truly phenomenal knockout in one of the most exciting fights of 2023 to date. With any luck, we’ll get to see Nakamura in action again soon. Based on this, he’s a prospect to watch.
