Bookended by first-round finishes and featuring some impressive performances throughout, Saturday’s fight card at the UFC APEX was an entertaining kickoff to a tremendous run of events over the next two months, setting the table nicely for UFC 284 next weekend in Perth, Australia.
Here’s a look at how the action played out
UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac Results
Main Event: Serghei Spivac defeats Derrick Lewis by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:05 of Round 1
Co-Main Event: Devin Clark defeats Da Woon Jung by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Marcin Tybura defeats Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Dooho Choi and Kyle Nelson fight to a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
Adam Fugitt defeats Yusaku Kinoshita by TKO (elbows) at 4:36 of Round 1
Road To UFC Lightweight Final: Anshul Jubli defeats Jeka Saragih by TKO (strikes) at 3:44 of Round 2
Road To UFC Featherweight Final: JeongYeong Lee defeats Yi Zha by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Road To UFC Bantamweight Final: Rinya Nakamura defeats Toshiomi Kazama by knockout (left hand) at 0:33 of Round 1
Road To UFC Flyweight Final: HyunSung Park defeats SeungGuk Choi by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:11 of Round 3
JunYong Park defeats Denis Tiuliulin by technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:05 of Round 1
Tatsuro Taira defeats Jesus Aguilar by submission (armbar) at 4:20 of Round 1
UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac Main Card Fight Results
Main Event: Serghei Spivac defeats Derrick Lewis by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:05 of Round 1
Serghei Spivac is developing into a problem in the heavyweight division.
“The Polar Bear” picked up the biggest win of his career in his first UFC main event assignment, taking the fight to Derrick Lewis from the outset and never allowing the former title challenger a chance to get into the fight. Spivac repeatedly dumped Lewis to the canvas, battering him with heavy blows each time before finally clamping onto a deep arm-triangle choke to secure the finish.
The referee who had been Derrick Lewis' nemesis was nowhere to be found. Lewis was fighting in Las Vegas, not in his hometown of Houston, where he experienced so much pressure trying to put on a show for the home folks.
And still, it was not enough for the UFC's all-time knockout leader, who lost yet again, this time at Apex in the main event of UFC 68.
Sergey Spivac mauled Lewis and eventually forced him to tap to an arm triangle at 3:05 of the first round. Lewis entered the bout having lost two in a row and three of his last four, but complained that he was the victim of early stoppages by referee Dan Miragliotta.
Lewis, though, had no answer for Spivac, a combat sambo fighter from the Republic of Moldova. Spivac took Lewis down with a hip toss early, and then never gave up the body lock. Lewis would work to his feet and Spivac would fling him back to the canvas.
It was a brilliant plan and led to the biggest win of his career.Click to watch video