UFC hosted yet another action-packed event on Saturday, February 20, 2021 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, United States.
Dubbed UFC Fight Night 185 and UFC Vegas 19, the event saw Derrick Lewis score yet another stunning knockout over No. 2 ranked heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes. In the co-feature, Yana Kunitskata defeated Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision with 29-28 score across the board.
UFC Vegas 19 bonuses
According to reports, four fighters will be taking home $50,000 for winning Performance of the Night bonuses - Aiemann Zahabi, Tom Aspinall, Chris Daukaus, and Derrick Lewis.
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Zahabi scored an excellent first-round KO over Drako Rodriguez in the prelims, while Chris Daukaus competed against Alexey Oleynik in the main card and finished him within two minutes of the fight. Tom Aspinall submitted UFC veteran Andrei Arlovski in the second-round with rear-naked choke hold.
In the main event, the two heavyweights went toe to toe in the first round, with Blaydes even rocking Lewis once towards the end.
Referee Herb Dean had to constantly remind both the fighters to mind their fingers. However, the fight went on without any mishap and ended in a clinical TKO by Derrick Lewis at the 1:26 mark of the second round.
'Razor' Blaydes was already out cold from a brutal upper cut by the time Herb Dean intervened and declared Lewis the winner. This is the 20th KO/TKO win that Derrick Lewis has secured out of the 25 wins of his MMA career. He also tied Vitor Belfort for the most number of knockouts in UFC history at 12.
In the post-fight interview, Derrick Lewis said that he was aware of the current situation of the heavyweight division, and Jon Jones coming up a weightclass meant he was definitely not the next in line for a title shot. However, if given a chance, he would like to fight the heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, 'The Black Beast' shared.