Having last fought in August of 2019, lightweight Devonte Smith was looking to get back into the Octagon with a bang when he faced Justin Jaynes at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov in early February.

With just over a minute remaining in the second round of the bout, the fight was stopped after Jaynes was unable to see out of a badly swollen eye. It was Smith’s his first win in almost exactly two years.

“I felt good,” Smith told MMAWeekly.com. “I feel like I did good considering it had been something like 536 days since (I was last) fighting. I got back in and felt like I was present, I felt like I was there, and performed like I wanted.”

While Smith would have liked to have put a definitive stamp on his return, he’s happy to have gotten the win any way it came to him.

“I didn’t really notice (Jaynes’ eye) until he got out of the choke and tried to get into my guard,” said Smith. “I (then) noticed his eye was swollen and I thought that they were going to end it because you can’t see out of your eye when it’s swollen.

“When (the referee) stopped it, I was very surprised that he stopped it, but I wasn’t mad he stopped it. A win is a win.”

Back on the winning track for the first time in a long time, Smith now turns his attention towards continuing to improve his game. He knows he needs to keep getting better should he want to work his way up the lightweight ranks in the UFC.

“I want to get better in everything: wrestling offense and defense, my striking, my boxing, my Muay Thai, every single skill,” Smith said.

“I want to get better in a great manner because the 155-pound division is very stacked. In the Top 10, Top 15, they have very big competition, so I’ve got to be on my toes, and use whatever fighter IQs to beat these guys.”

While he knows the competition only gets more difficult from here, Smith feels like with his win on Feb. 6, he’s on the right path for 2021.

“This year is better than last year because last year I didn’t fight,” said Smith. “I feel like I’m headed in a positive direction.

“(Whether I have) three or four fights this year, that’s the goal. I feel like I’m going to go in the right direction to get to that goal. I’m excited to finally be back in there instead of taking constant breaks.”

TRENDING UFC Vegas 19 results: Derrick Lewis ties record with Curtis Blaydes knockout

Derrick Lewis addresses late KO shots on Curtis Blaydes at UFC Vegas 19

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/devonte-smith-excited-for-the-year-ahead-in-the-ufc

Derrick Lewis added another highlight-reel knockout to his resume Saturday.

At UFC Fight Night 185, Lewis (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) knocked out Curtis Blaydes with a violent counter uppercut at 1:26 of Round 2. The finish came after a challenging opening nine minutes for Lewis.

The heavyweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 185 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It streamed on ESPN+.

The first round was a striking display from Blaydes (14-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC). In one of the first exchanges, Blaydes ate a big punch. From there, however, Blaydes took over. He landed punches to the head and heavy leg kicks on Lewis.

In Round 2, Blaydes shot for a takedown, but Lewis denied it. Shortly thereafter, Blaydes shot again. This time, Lewis landed a perfectly timed uppercut that folded Blaydes over backward. Before referee Herb Dean could step in, Lewis landed two coffin-nail punches to a stiff Blaydes.

MY WORD. pic.twitter.com/Y6Soja9Rut

— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) February 21, 2021

Blaydes was down on the canvas through the following broadcast commercial break, but he was awake and present for the official decision.

With his 20th career knockout, Lewis extended his winning streak to four. He now shares the record for UFC knockouts with Vitor Belfort at 12. Of his most recent nine outings, Lewis has won seven. During that stretch of fights, Lewis has defeated Francis Ngannou, Alexander Volkov, and Marcin Tybura, among others.

As for Blaydes, the loss snaps a four-fight winning streak. It was the first pro defeat he suffered to someone other than Francis Ngannou. It’s the third time Blaydes has lost by TKO in his professional career, but the first time he has been knocked out cold.

Complete UFC Fight Night 185 results include:

• Derrick Lewis def. Curtis Blaydes via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:26
• Yana Kunitskaya def. Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Darrick Minner def. Charles Rosa via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-27)
• Chris Daukaus def. Aleksei Oleinik via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:55
• Phil Hawes def. Nassourdine Imavov via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Tom Aspinall def. Andrei Arlovski via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:09
• Jared Gordon def. Danny Chavez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• John Castaneda def. Eddie Wineland via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:44
• Julian Erosa def. Nate Landwehr via TKO (flying knee) – Round 1, 0:56
• Casey O’Neill def. Shana Dobson via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:41
• Aiemann Zahabi def. Drako Rodriguez via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:05
• Serghei Spivac def. Jared Vanderaa via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:32

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-fight-night-185-video-derrick-lewis-knocks-curtis-blaydes-stiff-scary-uppercut-knockout-ko

By MMA Junkie Staff
February 21, 2021 12:07 am

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Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-185-bonuses-derrick-lewis-earns-extra-50000-after-brutal-knockout

Derrick Lewis defended his extra punches after dropping Curtis Blaydes with a perfect uppercut in the UFC Fight Night 185 main event.

Lewis (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) tied the UFC’s all-time knockout record Saturday when he delivered a “KO of the Year” contender on Blaydes (14-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in the second round of their heavyweight headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

After connecting with a clean shot, Lewis dove on top of a stiff and already unconscious Blaydes and landed a pair of haymakers before referee Herb Dean could step in. It was well within the rules, but were they “super necessary,” as Jorge Masvidal would say?

“I can’t just turn the switch off just like that,” Lewis told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight. “Some fighters can do that, but I can’t do it. I have to wait until the referee pulled me off because you never know what could happen. Anything could happen. He could’ve turned into (The) Undertaker and stood straight up and eat all those shots. You never know. You go until the referee says, ‘Chill out.’”

Blaydes ultimately got up after the stoppage and left the octagon under his own power. Lewis said he was happy for that, but he wasn’t surprised to see the fight end with his opponent staring up at the lights.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing up to that point, though. Blaydes was having major success with his striking in the first round and in the early stages of the second, too.

Lewis said he never panicked, and he actually felt the momentum was trending in his favor as the minutes wore on.

“At the end of the first round I’m like, ‘He’s messing up, he’s messing up,’” Lewis said. “That’s what I was saying in my head. His coach was trying to pump his head up, ‘Good, good. You’re doing good.’ I’m like, ‘All right, keep playing that game.’ That’s what I was saying to myself. The second round came, and I knew he was going to try to come out and stand up a little bit, and then he was trying to shoot. So I just had to be patient.”

The finishing blow was about as flawlessly timed of an uppercut that’s ever occurred inside the octagon. Blaydes telegraphed a takedown attempt, and Lewis blasted him clean with his right fist to match Vitor Belfort’s all-time record for most UFC knockouts with his 12th.

Lewis said he believed that if he won, it would be in that fashion, adding that the uppercut was a focal point of his training camp going into his original date with Blaydes in November, and then continuing into UFC Fight Night 185.

“All I was waiting on was just for him to shoot,” Lewis said. “Was just waiting for him to shoot and nothing else. We knew it was coming. … (My coaches and I), that’s what we’ve been drilling all month. Twelve weeks, really. Trying to get prepared for that guy.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-fight-night-185-derrick-lewis-responds-criticism-extra-punches-curtis-blaydes

UFC Vegas 19 was chock full of heavyweight bouts on Saturday night, and the heavyweights delivered. Three of them, in fact, nabbed UFC Vegas 19 bonuses.

UFC Vegas 19 Performance of the Night: Derrick Lewis

Leading the charge on the bonuses was Derrick Lewis, who tied a UFC record by knocking out Curtis Blaydes in the main event.

Blaydes looked like he was controlling the fight before he charged in for a takedown, running smack into a Lewis uppercut that put his lights out.

The victory moved Lewis into a tie with Vitor Belfort for the most knockout victories in UFC history with 12. Not only did he tie a record, Lewis also earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. It was one of four such bonuses handed out with no Fight of the Night bonus awarded.

UFC Vegas 19 Performance of the Night: Chris Daukaus

In just his third fight in the Octagon, Chris Daukaus scored the biggest win of his career with a knockout of Aleksei Oleinik just 1:55 into their main card bout.

Oleinik wanted to take the fight to the ground, his wheelhouse, but Daukaus wouldn’t let him. He cracked Oleinik and unleashed a fury of punches until the fight was stopped.

The Performance of the Night display was Daukaus’s third first-round finish in three UFC bouts.

UFC Vegas 19 Performance of the Night: Tom Aspinall

Much like Daukaus, Tom Aspinall notched the most important win of his career, as he took out former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in the UFC Vegas 19 main card opener.

Aspinall stormed Arlovski with punches in the first round, but couldn’t put him away. Early in the second frame, he shifted gears and secured a rear-naked choke that ended the fight and earned Aspinall a $50,000 bonus.

TRENDING UFC Vegas 19 results: Derrick Lewis ties record with Curtis Blaydes knockout

UFC Vegas 19 Performance of the Night: Aiemann Zahabi

Aiemann Zahabi was in the second bout of the UFC Vegas 19 fight card, setting the tone for a night that ended with eight finishes.

Zahabi deftly avoided a Drako Rodriguez uppercut, only to counter with a straight right hand that put Rodriguez down and out on the canvas.

The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Zahabi and earned him a Performance of the Night award.

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/derrick-lewis-knockout-tops-ufc-vegas-19-bonuses