Tag: UFC Fight Night 126

UFC on ESPN+ 32 free fight: Derrick Lewis rallies to stop Marcin Tybura

Relive Derek Lewis’ finish of Marcin Tybura.

You can never count [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] out of a fight.

Lewis (23-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) faced [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 126 in February 2018 looking to get back in the win column after he saw his six-fight winning streak snapped at the hands of Mark Hunt.

Lewis charged at Tybura early, pushing him down for the takedown. After maintaining some top control, Tybura used a leg lock attempt to make his way back up and capitalized on Lewis stumble, to take top control himself. He easily transitioned to full mount, but Lewis was able to shake him off.

Seconds later, Lewis sat Tybura down with a right hand and poured it on, but Tybura survived and even reversed position, riding the round out in full mount.

In Round 2, Lewis backed Tybura up to the fence with a combination, but Tybura capitalized by clinching and landing the takedown. He managed to keep Lewis down on the mat, controlling him for the rest of the round.

In Round 3, Lewis was visibly tired, throwing labored shots at Tybura who easily evaded. Tybura poked at Lewis’ body with kicks, then backed him against the cage to work for the takedown. Lewis eventually reversed position and unloaded a barrage of punches, taking Tybura out with less than three minutes remaining in the fight.

Lewis returns Saturday when he meets Aleksei Oleinik (59-13-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN+ 32 headliner. The event takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Before he faces Oleinik, relive Lewis’ finish over Tybura in the video above.

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UFC 247 free fight: Derrick Lewis batters Marcin Tybura to kick off 2018 title charge

Ahead of his return at UFC 247, relive Derrick Lewis’s finish over Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night 126.

[autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] displayed his power in full force when he started his 2018 campaign for a heavyweight title shot with a crowd-pleasing finish.

After having his six-fight winning streak snapped at the hands of Mark Hunt, Lewis (22-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) looked to rebound when he faced Marcin Tybura in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 126 in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 18, 2018.

Early in Round 1, Lewis was able to use his full force by pushing Tybura down to the mat. After controlling top position, Lewis tried to latch on to Tybura’s back as he made his way up, but ended up losing his position and his footing and ended up on the bottom.

Tybura was easily able to transition to full mount, then take Lewis’ back. But Lewis shook him off and met him with a big right hand that sent him back to the canvas. Tybura smartly reversed position on the mat to end up in full mount as the round came to a close.

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In Round 2, Tybura took things straight back to the mat and achieved dominant positions once again as he took Lewis’s back, then transitioned to full mount. Once again, however, the Houston native was able to survive Tybura’s grappling attack and took the fight into the final round.

With the words of his corner still ringing in his ears, Lewis started the final frame knowing he needed a finish. Tybura came out pressing forward, and proceeded to clinch and work for a takedown. A visibly tired Lewis defended well and managed to gain separation before unloading with a powerful combination that rocked Tybura. He then finished him in dramatic fashion to secure a thrilling come-from-behind victory.

The victory put Lewis back in the win column in a big way and kickstarted a run of form that saw him defeat Francis Ngannou and Alexander Volkov to earn a shot with then-UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier.

The title fight didn’t go Lewis’ way, however, and after his submission loss, he was stopped by former champion Junior Dos Santos. He avoided a three-fight losing skid by narrowly edging Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 244 and now will look to kick off another winning streak by welcoming Swedish veteran Ilir Latifi to the heavyweight division at UFC 247, which takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Ahead of that fight, check out the video above to watch Lewis’ “Performance of the Night” finish over Tybura.

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UFC 246 Fighter Flashback: Donald Cerrone on his ‘scariest, most intense, fun’ pre-fight nerves

We raided the MMA Junkie archives for a fascinating moment as Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone talks us through the raw emotion of fight week.

Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone will kick off the 2020 UFC pay-per-view schedule Jan. 18 when they headline UFC 246 in Las Vegas. The fight serves as McGregor’s highly anticipated return to the octagon after 14 months, while Cerrone receives the biggest opportunity of his nearly 14-year career. As part of an occasional series ahead of the matchup, let’s flash back to a memorable Cerrone interview in which he broke down the anxiety and nerves he feels ahead of his fights.

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When [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] makes his walk to the octagon to face Conor McGregor at UFC 246, he will become the man with the most fights in UFC history.

But despite his 33 previous fights on the sport’s biggest stage, “Cowboy” revealed he still suffers with nerves and anxiety ahead of each walk to the cage.

Before he fought Yancy Medeiros at UFC Fight Night 126 in February 2018, Cerrone (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC) broke down to MMA Junkie just what goes through his mind as he prepares for the moment he walks to the octagon and the cage door closes behind him.

“It’s what I love, man. I love fighting,” he said. “It’s the scariest, most intense, fun feeling. … I couldn’t even explain it to you.”

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What he was able to do, however, was break down the rapid-fire salvo of emotions as he experiences the sensory overload of arriving and dealing with the media on fight week, all the way up to the moment he steps into the octagon itself.

“From right now (on interview day) – can’t sleep at night. Eating’s hard,” he said. “Make the weight – half the battle’s over. Fight day, (expletive), all your friends are like, ‘You’re gonna kill him.’ Uh, no (expletive). I’ve got to go in there and fight. It doesn’t just go like that. Scared … let’s go. Pack your (expletive), we’re in the arena. All your teammates are fighting, your coaches are there. It’s crazy. It’s scary. You go throw up in the bathroom – I do, anyway – then you’re standing and you’re walking in the hall and (expletive) light’s in your face, just like this. Now you’re live on TV, you’re walking down the tunnel, and you’re like, ‘Holy (expletive). Six weeks, and it’s here, and it’s now.’

“I’ve been on the edge of a plane, about to jump out. I’ve been on top of mountains. And nothing puts the hair on the back of your neck feeling like walking into that (expletive) octagon and they shut that door and you’re like, ‘Well, there’s only two ways this can go, right? In or out.'”

That rush of emotion will return when Cerrone makes the walk to the octagon at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Jan. 18 against McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in what will in all likelihood be the most-watched fight of the 36-year-old’s 51-fight MMA career.

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