Serghei Spivac may have just hammered the final nail into the coffin of Derrick Lewis‘ run as a UFC title contender.
The 28-year-old Moldovan heavyweight steamrolled over Lewis on Saturday night, tapping out “The Black Beast” with a first-round arm-triangle choke in the main event of UFC Vegas 68, which took place at the UFC APEX. Spivac (16-3) dragged Lewis (26-11, 1 NC) to the mat at will, scoring at six takedowns in the brief contest, before going to work and securing the fight-ending submission. The official time of the stoppage was 3:05 of the opening round.
The win moved Spivac to 6-1 over his past seven UFC bouts, while Lewis dropped his third consecutive fight via stoppage and fourth of his past five octagon appearances.
“Derrick Lewis is great,” Spivac said afterward. “He fought two times for the title. He’s great, he’s a legend for me. I love him. Today, this is my time. ‘Polar Bear’ is here, ‘Polar Bear’ is coming. Give me somebody from the top five.”
“I want Jon Jones,” Spivac added after some prodding from UFC commentator Michael Bisping. “I think this is good. Jon Jones, I respect you so much, sorry bro, but I’m coming.”
The night’s co-main event saw Devin Clark (14-7) pull off an upset with a dominant performance over light heavyweight prospect Da Un Jung (15-4-1). Clark scored big takedowns in every round and used his wrestling to keep the South Korean fighter off balance throughout the 15-minute affair, ultimately sweeping the judges’ scorecards with unanimous 30-27 scores to capture a unanimous decision. The loss was only the second of Jung’s seven-fight UFC career and moved Clark to 2-1 over his past three UFC outings.
Elsewhere on the card, heavyweight veteran Marcin Tybura (24-7) extended his UFC hot streak to 7-1 over his past eight octagon appearances with a workmanlike decision win over Blagoy Ivanov (19-5, 1 NC). Judges scored the contest 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 for Tybura, who called for a re-booked bout against Jairzinho Rozenstruik in his post-fight interview.
In featherweight action, Kyle Nelson (13-5-1) eked out a majority draw against the returning Doo Ho Choi (14-1-1), thanks in large part to a controversial third-round point deduction against Choi made by referee Chris Tognoni due to a headbutt.
Fighting for the first time since December 2019, Choi out-landed Nelson by a wide margin — 79 to 39 in total strikes — however Nelson’s grinding style combined with the point deduction to coax two 28-28 scores from the judges, with the lone dissenter scoring a 29-27 in favor of Choi, keeping “The Korean Superboy” winless in the UFC since July 2016.
Check out complete UFC Vegas 68 results below.
- Serghei Spivac def. Derrick Lewis via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:05 of Round 1
- Devin Clark def. Da Un Jung via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Marcin Tybura def. Blagoy Ivanov via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Doo Ho Choi vs. Kyle Nelson ruled a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
- Adam Fugitt def. Yusaku Kinoshita via TKO (ground and pound) at 4:36 of Round 1
Preliminary Card
- Anshul Jubli def. Jeka Saragih via TKO (ground and pound) at 3:44 of Round 2
- Jeong Yeong Lee def. Yi Zha via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
- Rinya Nakamura def. Toshiomi Kazama via KO (punch) at :33 of Round 1 | Watch finish
- Hyun Sung Park def. Seung Guk Choi via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:11 of Round 3
- Jun Yong Park def. Denis Tiuliulin via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:05 of Round 1
- Tatsuro Taira def. Jesus Santos Aguilar via submission (triangle armbar) at 4:20 of Round 1 | Watch finish
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