One of the most popular fighters in the heavyweight division has a chance to get closer to another title shot.
Derrick Lewis meets Aleksei Oleinik in the main event of the UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas in a battle of two straight candidates. The bout will take place at the UFC Apex with no fans present, and it will air on ESPN +.
Lewis (23-7, 1 NC) has won two straight and five of his past seven fights. The Houston resident lost to Daniel Cormier in a heavyweight title fight at UFC 230 in November 2018 at Madison Square Garden, but he has worked his way back into the title picture. Lewis, 35, is ranked no. 6 among MMA heavyweights by ESPN. He is tied with two others – Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos – for the most knockouts in UFC heavyweight history (10).
Oleinik (59-13-1) has won two in a row and four of his past six. The Ukrainian native, who lives and trains in Florida, comes from a split-decision victory over former champion Fabricio Werdum at UFC 249 in March. Oleinik, 43, is a submission master with 46 submissions ending in his 59 winters. He is also one of the most experienced veterans in the game. Earlier this year, Oleinik became the first UFC fighter to compete in MMA – and win – in four different decades.
In the co-main event Saturday, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman faced a must-win scenario against Omari Akhmedov. Weidman (14-5) has won only once in his past six fights. Akhmedov (20-4-1) is meanwhile goofy. The country’s own Dagestan has been unbeaten in the past six.
Also on the map, Beneil meets Dariush Scott Holtzman in a kickoff (after Dariush missed the lightweight limit on Friday), middleweights Darren Stewart and Maki Pitolo follow action, and Yana Kunitskaya meets Julija Stoliarenko in a bantamweight camp for women.
Marc Raimondi, Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim record the action again as it takes place in Las Vegas.
Fight forward:
Medium weight: Kevin Holland (17-5, 4-2 UFC, -450) vs. Joaquin Buckley (10-2, 0-0 UFC, +360)
Results:
Lightweight: Nasrat Haqparast (12-3, 4-2 UFC) defeats Alex Munoz (6-1, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision
He is smooth. Very experienced fighter https://t.co/ov3MVOi7TO
– The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 9, 2020
Back to come.
Medium weight: Andrew Sanchez (13-5, 5-3 UFC) defeats Wellington Turman (16-4, 1-2 UFC) by KO in first round
Sanchez, a former national champion collegiate wrestler, put his standup skills on display when he reached his first UFC finish with a stunning 1-2 that knocked Turman down at 4:14 from Round 1.
Sanchez, a 32-year-old Illinois native who struggled out of Montreal, used his wrestling early on, initiated a slap against the cow and controlled his opponent there. But he did no damage until the fighters parted ways and began dealing punches. Both men landed right-handed as well as counter-attacks, but Sanchez’s punches remained and came hard. After hitting Turman with his right hand, he sank in and ended up with an attempted left chase, followed by a powerful right cross.
The mullet brings a different kind of force 👀
– Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) August 8, 2020
For Sanchez, the winner of Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter” as a light heavyweight four years ago, it was his third victory in his past four outings.
Turman, 24, from Curitiba, Brazil, had won five of six innings and was never finished.
– Wagenheim
Men’s Field Weight: Gavin Tucker (12-1, 3-1 UFC) defeats Justin Jaynes (16-5, 1-1 UFC) by third-round back-naked choke
After an early sequence in the first round that saw Tucker almost ready and then his shorts slipped down, Tucker agreed to defeat Jaynes by submitting (rear naked choke) at 1:43 of the third round .
Near the end of the first, Jaynes Tucker fell with a left top shot and followed up with hard combinations. Tucker, clearly in trouble, shot for a takedown and Jaynes looked to cinch a guillotine choke. Tucker hesitated to hold on to Jaynes’ protection, but he slipped his shorts down in the process, exposing his Reebok underwear. Somehow, Tucker, with his shorts under his ass, got into a mount, and then went for an arm-triangle choke as time passed in the round.
Tucker! Pull up your shorts !! # UFCVegas6
– Michael Chiesa (@ MikeMav22) August 8, 2020
Tucker had all the momentum of that. He peppered Jaynes with combinations in the second round, and in the third he landed an enormous knuckle that opened a cut on Jaynes’ face. Tucker eventually took down a compromised Jaynes, got his back and ended up with the choke.
Tucker, 34, has now won two straight after the lone loss of his career to Rick Glenn in 2017. The Canadian won for the second straight time through third-round back-naked choke. Jaynes had snapped a winning streak of five fights. The 30-year-old Michigan native, who lives and trains in Las Vegas, came out of a 41-second knockout from Frank Camacho in his UFC debut in June.
– Raimondi
Watch the fight on ESPN +.
Men’s Featherweight: Youssef Zalal (10-2, 3-0 UFC) vs. Peter Barrett (11-4, 0-1 UFC)
Zalal did exactly what he had to do as the biggest favorite of the event: He won in style.
Zalal, 23, failed to pick up a finish against a sustainable Barrett, but not because of a lack of effort. Zalal badly injured Barrett with a spinning back kick to the face in the opening round, and he threatened to send him into the second and third via back naked choke. In the end, Zalal settled for a dominant unanimous decision, through scores of 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27.
Omg he was out !! That was a nasty kick # UFCVegas6
– Niko Price (@Nikohybridprice) August 8, 2020
Zalal, who was born in Morocco and now trains from Denver, landed 69% of his attempted strikes, according to UFC Stats, compared to just 32% for Barrett. He became the first UFC fighter to record three victories in 2020. His entire UFC career took place in 2020, as he debuted with the promotion in February.
Barrett, of Massachusetts, falls to 0-1 in the UFC. He earned his way into promotion with a win at the Dana White Contender Series in August 2019.
– Okamoto
Men’s Bantam Weightlifting: Irwin Rivera (10-5, 1-1 UFC) defeats Ali Al-Qaisi (8-4, 0-1 UFC) by split
Maybe it was his slight edge in aggression. Perhaps he was rewarded for some of his unorthodox attacks. Whatever it was that two of the three judges sat in his way, Rivera found his way into the UFC winning column for the first time by the narrowest margins.
The 31-year-old Mexican fighter, who trains from Sanford MMA in South Florida, has absolutely not spoken out about Al-Qaisi, who made his UFC debut. But Rivera, who is fighting for the second time in the Octagon, used some important takedowns and flashing techniques – lead capital letters, superman jabs, flying knees – to get these out. All three judges scored the final 29-28.
Al-Qaisi, 29, from Jordan, came on a winning streak of five fights and looked solid, although he was stiff and hesitant at times. But this one was barely gone.
– Wagenheim
Watch this fight on ESPN +.
Still to come
Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis (23-7, 1 NC; 14-5 UFC, -200) vs. Aleksei Oleinik (59-13-1, 8-4 UFC, +175)
Medium weight: Chris Weidman (14-5, 9-5 UFC, -135) vs. Omari Akhmedov (20-4-1, 8-3-1 UFC, +115)
Medium weight: Darren Stewart (11-5, 3-1 UFC, -155) vs. Maki Pitolo (13-5, 1-1 UFC, +135)
Bantam weight for women: Yana Kunitskaya (12-5, 2-2 UFC, -230) vs. Julija Stoliarenko (9-4-1, 0-1 UFC, +190)
Lightweight: Beneil Dariush (18-4-1, 12-4-1 UFC, -185) vs. Scott Holtzman (14-3, 7-3 UFC, +165)
World weight: Tim Means (29-12-1, 11-9-1 UFC, +120) vs. Laureano Staropoli (9-2, 2-1 UFC, -140)
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