Derrick Lewis delivered a devastating knockout of Curtis Blaydes in the UFC Fight Night 185 main event on Saturday night.
In doing so, he tied the UFC record for most knockouts (12), but the way the final seconds of the fight went left many talking not about Lewis’ career accomplishments but whether he went too far.
The knockout itself was remarkable. Blaydes makes a somewhat clumsy takedown attempt and Lewis responds with a perfectly timed uppercut. So Blaydes essentially leans into a punch — and is out.
He crumples to the mat, motionless, and Lewis immediately hits him with two full-on punches to the face.
MY WORD. pic.twitter.com/Y6Soja9Rut
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) February 21, 2021
Blaydes would eventually get up and be able to walk out of the octagon.
Lewis defended his decision. Our friends at MMA Junkie have all the details:
“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.'”
Having never entered the octagon and engaged in an MMA fight wherein another person is trying to knock me unconscious, I must admit it’s hard to fault Lewis entirely for having this mindset. I get where he’s coming from.
However, a long-time veteran of the sport probably has a pretty good sense of when his opponent is knocked out cold and should show restraint in a moment like this. You’ve got to respect the life of your opponent once he’s in such a vulnerable spot. The referee did his best to end it quickly but he can only move so fast.
It’s worth noting that Lewis hardly had control of the fight prior to this moment. In fact he appeared to have no answers for Blaydes’ athleticism in the early going.
Until he found that one, very decisive answer.
Anyway, Twitter went nuts over it all, dubbing it a potential knockout of the year.
There was one of those in boxing on Saturday, too.
It’s almost as if Twitter is prone to reactionary hyperbole. Huh.