UFC Fight Night 102 might not have brought the biggest names to Albany, New York, but it did provide some exciting performances from some fast risers in the bigger UFC divisions.
Capping off all those performances was a fourth-round TKO win for Derrick Lewis. The Black Beast was able to run up his win streak to five with the finish even if it wasn’t always pretty.
The UFC passed along the highlight of the final onslaught that put the fight away:
With four first-round wins in the UFC, Lewis’ initial onslaught was something to watch going into the fight, but Abdurakhimov took an early lead in the fight by taking down Lewis early, as the UFC showed on Twitter:
As it turned out, that would be a harbinger of things to come in the early rounds. Lewis’ ability to set up his powerful punches was consistently turned away by Abdurakhimov either closing the distance, taking him down or all-out avoiding exchanges by disengaging.
Lewis played right into the Russian’s game plan by doing little to set up his shots and consistently just looking to land the one big punch. MMA Fighting even gave the first three rounds to Abdurakhimov:
However, a true contender is one who can pull out a victory even if it isn’t his best night, and that’s exactly what Lewis did. After spending most of the time on the ground on his back, Lewis was finally able to gain top position.
Even on a bad night, that’s no place to be for anyone fighting The Black Beast. It didn’t take long from there for Lewis to complete his comeback and earn a big win for his future prospects.
Lewis wasn’t the only big winner on the night. The event was marked by some impressive performances from guys who could be in line for bigger fights in the near future. Here’s a look at the complete list of results from Fight Pass card, including a closer look at the other fights on the main card.
Fight Pass Prelim Results
- Juliana Lima defeated JJ Aldrich by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ryan Janes defeated Keith Berish by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marc Diakiese defeated Frankie Perez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Shane Burgos defeated Tiago Trator by unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)
- Andrew Sanchez defeated Trevor Smith by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Gerald Meerschaert defeated Joe Gigliotti by submission (anaconda choke), 4:12 of Round 1
- Randy Brown defeated Brian Camozzi by TKO (strikes), 1:25 of Round 2
- Justine Kish defeated Ashley Yoder by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Main Card Results
- Gian Villante defeated Saparbek Safarov by TKO (strikes), 2:54 of Round 2
- Corey Anderson defeated Sean O’Connell by TKO (strikes), 2:36 of Round 2
- Francis Ngannou defeated Anthony Hamilton by submission (kimura), 1:57 of Round 1
- Derrick Lewis defeated Shamil Abdurakhimov by TKO (strikes), 3:42 of Round 4
Gian Villante vs. Saparbek Safarov
Gian Villante didn’t get the opportunity he might have been hoping for to show his skills off against Patrick Cummins, but he still picked up a win in front of a hometown New York crowd.
Cummins backed out of the fight due to a staph infection, per MMA Fighting, but UFC newcomer Saparbek Safarov stepped in to get battered by the 31-year-old Villante.
Safarov did not go quietly into the night, though. Villante ultimately got the finish, but not before Safarov turned the bout into an absolute brawl in the first round, even dropping the hometown favorite. The UFC provided the highlight on Twitter:
Villante is known for his toughness, though, and rallied back from the early defensive lapse.
He came roaring back in the second round and showed signs of maturation as he methodically picked apart a clearly winded Safarov. Where Villante has found trouble before thanks to his aggressive nature, he was careful in his approach to putting away Safarov, and it paid off with a second-round finish.
The win really doesn’t do much for Villante‘s stock going forward. Safarov was a newcomer and fought on late notice. However, a win in New York had to be a memorable moment for him, and the fight itself was a crowd-pleaser.
Corey Anderson vs. Sean O’Connell
Sean O’Connell came in to his bout with Corey Anderson riding a perfect 6-0 record inside the Octagon. It didn’t matter. Corey Anderson made it pretty clear that he’s the far better prospect in the light heavyweight division.
Anderson wasted no time in enacting his wrestling-heavy game plan against the 33-year-old O’Connell, and his opponent had no answer. O’Connell was able to get up the first time, but it wasn’t long before he was dumped on the mat again. And that’s where he would stay for the round.
The second round wasn’t much better for O’Connell. Anderson simply proved that he’s vastly superior to O’Connell, and the referee mercifully called an end to the bout in the second frame.
After the fight, Anderson took the time to call out who he would like to see next, per Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie:
Calling out the winner of the Nikita Krylov–Misha Cirkunov bout was a smart move for Anderson. Overtime lost out on a great opportunity to shoot up the rankings when he dropped a split decision to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but this win proved that he needs to be fighting fellow ranked fighters as he climbs the ladder.
His combination of athleticism, wrestling and ground-and-pound is going to be difficult for most of the division to handle.
Anthony Hamilton vs. Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou is a bad, bad man.
That was one of the biggest takeaways from Fight Night 102. The 30-year-old ran his MMA record up to 9-1 and his UFC record to a perfect 4-0.
To make matters even worse for the rest of the heavyweight division, he did it while showing off an aspect of his game that we hadn’t seen yet: submissions. The massive Frenchman wasted little time in locking up a kimura in the first round to put away a dangerous opponent in Anthony Hamilton.
As MMA Fighting noted, it showcased a dimension of Ngannou that was far more technical than fans have seen from him thus far in his career:
Much like Anderson, Ngannou took the opportunity to give some names he’d like to see in the cage next, per MMA Fighting:
Whether this is a smart move from Ngannou remains to be seen. He’s looked like a contender in each of his four UFC fights. None have made it out of the second round, and his last two have been over in the first round. However, he’s also fought suspect competition.
Hamilton represented a step up in competition from his first three fights. He at least has multiple UFC wins under his belt, but it’s clear that he’s ready for another step up in competition.
If he picks up a win against a ranked opponent, the sky is the limit for him.
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