Derrick Lewis earned a hard fought win over Russian opponent Shamil Abdulrakhimov in the main event of UFC Fight Night 102 in Albany, New York, and despite being frustrated for most of the fight by his opponent’s tactics, he would make the most of his chances to get the victory via a fourth round TKO stoppage.
Live from Times Union Centre in Albany. New York, UFC Fight Night 102 was a night of action which saw contenders in both the Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight rankings climb further up the ladder in their respective divisions.
In the main event, “The Black Beast” started slowly and was hesitant to engage with Abdulrakhimov who would win all three of the opening rounds of the contest. The crowd spent most of the fight booing the two fighters as the Russian stifled the offence of Lewis, taking him down from some sloppy kick attempts and doing anything he could to avoid getting into a striking battle with him.
The second round would see both fighters continue their hesitance with minimal strikes being thrown as they circled, stuttered and puttered their way around the cage. A shot from Abdulrakhimov would graze the eye of Lewis with the corner of the glove and it seemed to bother him throughout the rest of the round. In his corner between rounds, Lewis asked his team to rinse the eye through with water but he still seemed to be feeling the effects at the start of the third.
In round three, Abdulrakhimov would switch between initiating the clinch; where he was showing zero aggression and intent, and circling away from a chasing Lewis who was stalking him down and looking to get back into the fight. The stalling tactics of the Russian caused referee Dan Miragliotta to issue him with a warning for timidity through his corner towards the end of the round.
With it all to do and three rounds behind on the judges’ scorecards, Lewis came out looking more like himself in the fourth round. Taking advantage of a tiring Abdulrakhimov, Lewis would go for takedowns of his own, and once he had the Russian on the ground, he swarmed in for the finish landing big strikes. Transitioning into full mount, Lewis rained down punches on his exhausted and grounded opponent for the TKO stoppage.
After the fight, the Louisiana fighter was far from happy with his own performance and pointed to being too conservative with his energy as the reason.
“I didn’t like my performance at all, I know it was a five round fight. I just tried to pace myself, but that was some bull****,” said a dejected Lewis (17-4-0 1NC) post-fight. When asked about who was next, the disappointed Heavyweight refused to call out anyone but still mentioned two interesting match-ups.
“S***, I was going to say I wanted Travis Browne or Mark Hunt, but this performance right here is some b*******, so, I’ll sit my a** down.”
Despite his disappointment, the 31-year-old is now on a five-fight win streak and is still one of the hottest prospects in the UFC Heavyweight division.
Abdulrakhimov (17-4) came into the fight on the back of two wins but now holds a 2-2 UFC record with both his defeats coming via TKO.
