LAS VEGAS – Derrick Lewis spent the last half of the first lap on his back, with veteran Aleksei Oleinik sliding on top of him in search of an opening that would lead to a submission of fights.
A fighter introduced as a brawler does not want to have any part of that position.
So, when the second round started, Lewis added something. He roared out of his corner and dropped Oleinik with a crushing right down. Lewis immediately sat on top of him and started shooting away. Referee Herb Dean called for a quick stop to give Lewis the victory in the main event of a card Saturday at Apex.
Lewis supported his words for progress as he talked about his increased training and commitment to improvement. He looked physically much better than in most of his fights and he had the explosion of which he became famous in his rise to the top of the UFC heavyweight division.
Oleinik had several knots on his head and a bloody nose and mouth when he got up after that short but powerful Lewis attack.
While he is fourth, in a sense he is third, because no. 1-fan Daniel Cormier fights champion Stipe Miocic on August 15 in the main event of UFC 252 and plans to retire after that.
So Lewis is that much closer to a title shot with just Cormier, Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes in front of him.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 08: Derrick Lewis reacts to his knockout over Alexei Oleinik of Russia in her heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on August 8, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC)
This version of Lewis, who spends more than half an hour a day training and actively seeks to improve his skills, would be a much bigger challenge for the champion than he was at UFC 230 in 2018, when he was submitted by Cormier.
Lewis opened Saturday’s attack aggressively, threw a high kick at Oleinik who barely missed and then followed with a flurry of punches. He showed what he could do in that explosion, a terrible puncher who could hit at any moment.
But Oleinik, had his moments in the first. He weathered the storm and managed to get position on Lewis, spending much of the last minute of the round on top of looking for a submission.
He was not ready for the Lewis explosion at the start of the second and it cost him the fight.
In the co-main event, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman rode in the third round to draw a unanimous decision over Omari Akhmedov, giving him his first win in more than three years.
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