Check out which fighters won performance bonuses from UFC Vegas 68: Lewis vs. Spivac.
UFC Vegas 68 on Saturday was an OK event. The heavyweight headliner ended quickly, and the light heavyweight co-headliner was grueling.
The preliminary portion of the card started with Tatsuro Taira subbing Jesús Aguilar with a triangle armbar in the first round. The undefeated fighter was caught in a guillotine early, but he remained calm, moved into mount and transitioned into the submission that led to the verbal submission from Aguilar. Very impressive performance from the up-and-coming prospect! Jun Yong Park dominated Denis Tiuliulin before securing a first-round rear-naked choke. The ‘Iron Turtle’ kept Tiuliulin glued to the canvas, elbowing him from mount and drawing blood. Tiuliulin turned away, and Park went to his back, wrapping him up until he went to sleep. Hyun Sung Park earned a contract after submitting Seung Guk Choi in the first Road to UFC final. After a ‘slow start’ in their back-and-forth affair, ‘Peace of Mind’ saw an opportunity for a rear-naked choke, forcing Choi to tap in the third round. He also made history, as Park became the first male South Korean flyweight to join the UFC roster. Rinya Nakamura needed 33 seconds to send Toshiomi Kazama to the shadow realm. WOW! Nakamura slept Kazama with a left hand and added one more follow-up punch before referee Keith Peterson stepped in and stopped the fight. That was the second fastest UFC debut at bantamweight, the division Nakamura is now a part of after winning his Road to UFC final. Jeong Yeong Lee defeated Zhang Yi by split decision, scoring the third contract in this Road to UFC final. Despite the close fight, the ‘Korean Tiger’ set some lofty goals for himself to start his UFC career, telling color commentator Michael Bisping his plan of getting in the Octagon with featherweights Dan Ige, Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski. Anshul Jubli pummeled Jeka Saragih for a second-round TKO in our last Road to UFC final. ‘King of Lions’ took Saragih down and rained down punches and elbows until referee Marc Goddard saw enough. And there you have it, folks. We have four new additions to the 125, 135, 145 and 155-pound weight classes.
The main portion of the card saw Adam Fugitt upset Yasaku Kinoshita for his first UFC win. The welterweight ate one hell of a head kick from Kinoshita, but went on to get him down to the canvas and unload with elbows for the first-round TKO. Doo Ho Choi vs. Kyle Nelson ended in an anticlimactic fashion. It appeared as though the ‘Korean Superboy’ was on his way to a win after a three-year absence when he was deducted a point for a headbutt in the third round. When the fight finished, judge Adelaide Byrd had it 29-27 for Choi, while judges Eric Colon and Chris Lee had it 28-28, so we got a majority draw. Marcin Tybura extended his win streak to two, with a unanimous decision over Blagoy Ivanov. Devin Clark won a hard-fought decision against Da Un Jung in our co-headliner. The ‘Brown Bear’ mixed in his striking with his wrestling, leading to a clean sweep of the judges’ scorecards.
Serghei Spivac notched the biggest win of his UFC career with a first-round submission of Derrick Lewis. The ‘Polar Bear’ wasted no time getting the ‘Black Beast’ to the canvas, where he would either threaten with a submission attempt or wail on his opponent with punches. Eventually, Spivac dragged Lewis down again and locked up the arm-triangle choke. Great win. During his post-fight interview, the Moldovan fighter said he would be interested in Jon Jones as a future opponent.
Performance of the Night: Tatsuro Taira, Rinya Nakamura, Anshul Jubli and Serghei Spivac
Tatsuro Taira def. Jesus Aguilar by verbal submission (triangle armbar) at 4:20 of Round 1
Junyong Park def. Denis Tiuliulin by technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:05 of Round 1
Sung Hyun Park def. Seung Guk Choi by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:11 of Round 3
Rinya Nakamura def. Toshiomi Kazama by knockout (punch) at 0:33 of Round 1
Anshul Jubli def. Jeka Saragih by TKO (strikes) at 3:44 of Round 2
Adam Fugitt def. Yasaku Kinoshita by TKO (ground-and-pound) at 4:36 of Round 1
Serghei Spivac def. Derrick Lewis by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:05 of Round 1
Fight of the Night: No FOTN
Jeong Yeong Lee vs. Zha Yi by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Doo Ho Choi vs. Kyle Nelson ruled a majority draw
Marcin Tybura def. Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)
Devin Clark def. Da Un Jung by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)