UFC Fight Night 185, better known as Vegas 19 held at the UFC Apex facility at Las Vegas turned out to be yet another smashing encounter.
Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard are churning out some of the best fights that the fans have witnessed off late, infact, some of the fights between the lesser known fighters are turning out to be game changers.
Let’s start off with the heavyweight opener between rising UK prospect Tom Aspinall. For those that don’t know, Tom is coached by his father since a decade and is touted to be a contender in the heavyweight division. Tom was facing a veteran of the sport and a former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. Tom showed why younger fighters have the advantage in a brutal sport like MMA with his crisp striking, but the game changer came in round 2 when Tom made a swift take down and transitioned into a rear naked choke. Arlovski tapped out very quickly, clearly showing no signs of defense.
Tom climbed to 10-2 and Arlovski dropped to 30-20 post this fight.
Philadelphia police officer Chris Daukaus showed why the heavyweight division should be on the watch for some heavy striking. Daukaus put away a top 10 heavyweight and MMA veteran Aleksei Oleinik in the first round with a swift array of punches and took home his second performance of the night bonus. Daukaus is 3-0 in the UFC and denied Oleinik his 60th MMA victory of his career.
The co-main event of the evening was slated to be a cracker when Russian striking queen Yana Kunitskaya took on the Brazilian biggie Ketlen Vieira. Vieira missed weight for this bantamweight fight (135 lbs) and weighed in at 138 lbs. Yana accepted the catchweight bout at 138 lbs and still dominated the Brazilian from start till end. While the ground control and grappling clearly went to Ketlen, the jaw dropping difference in the number of significant strikes was evident with 170+ to just 18 odd strikes by Vieira.
The unanimous decision seemed fair at 29-28 across the board in favor of Yana Kunitskaya.
The main event ladies and gentleman was where the show stopped. And did it live up to the hype! Ranked no 2 in the world Curtis Blaydes took on rank no 4 Derrick Lewis. In the pre-fight build up, Curtis (who mainly relies on his wrestling) clearly mentioned he is coming into this fight to impress the top bracket of the UFC and is willing to strike with the dangerous Derrick Lewis. Round 1 seemed pretty even between the two heavyweights with Curtis looking sharper and crisper in his striking.
Round 2 turned to be the game changer when Curtis shot for the takedown and Derrick Lewis timed the uppercut to perfection.
Sadly this resulted in what most pundits would assume – a BRUTAL knockout. Curtis was literally knocked out before touching the canvas. It took almost a minute for Curtis to regain consciousness and get back on his feet. Shows what insane power Derrick ‘the Black Beast’ Lewis packs in those hands.
The heavyweight brass has suddenly been tossed up and rankings don’t matter. This fight dropped Curtis to 14-3 and climbed Derrick to 25-7.
It’ll be very interesting to see what the heavyweight segment holds with the belt on the line in a few weeks from now.
Stay tuned with me, Somesh Superhuman Kamra for more updates, analysis and predictions only on SPOGO News. About the author Somesh Kamra is a professional mixed martial artist specializing in Muay Thai. He has designed many effective training programs for Superhuman Gym and the Police Academy. His knowledge of hand to hand combat is unbeaten and has been a success story for many students. Somesh Kamra is educated from the University of Gold’s Gym in the field of physical fitness that includes strength training, plyometrics & cardiovascular training for muscular conditioning. He works closely with the UFC for India and serves as the panelist for the TV Show – The Ultimate Guide to UFC and Pit Stop on Sony Sports Network. Instagram: Somesh.Kamra Twitter: Somesh_Kamra