Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes trade punches in a heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 20, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Derrick Lewis caught heat for his KO of Curtis Blaydes
UFC heavyweight fighter Derrick Lewis is on the up. He got his 4th straight win in the division when he knocked Curtis Blaydes out clean in round 2 at UFC Fight Night 185.
The surprise victory saw Lewis showered with praise, but there was one moment which drew some heat from the fans. Blaydes went down in round 2 after a massive uppercut.
When he was down, ‘The Black Beast’ pounded ‘Razor’ with a plethora of punches. He was out cold, but Lewis dished a couple of extra punches just for good measure.
Some thought these were unnecessary, and Lewis only stopped when referee Herb Dean intervened.
Daniel Cormier addressed this issue when he was speaking on ESPN MMA this week.
DC said that it wasn’t dirty and that fighters are supposed to fight until they are told to stop and pulled away.
“They tell you in there Ariel, ‘fight until we stop you’, and that is what Derrick Lewis does. He fights until you pull him off of him. We have seen many times, when guys drop someone, and the guy is like ‘match over’, not your job to stop the fight, it’s the referee’s job to stop the fight.”
DC defended Herb Dean in the interview as well. And he was right. Dean made it there as fast as he could, there was absolutely nothing more he could have done to stop it sooner than that.
He, however, does not want to see these follow-up shots again in the UFC, especially in the heavyweight division.
“Herb didn’t do anything wrong. The moment Derrick dropped him, he ran over there as fast as he could, yelling “stop, stop, stop!..”
“But you cannot let these guys take follow-up shots in heavyweight, there cannot be follow-up shots in heavyweight.”
Lewis now has sights on heavyweight gold as he called out Stipe Miocic in the interview after his victory in Las Vegas.
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