Before his fight with Charles Oliveira, I honestly had not seen much of Nik Lentz.
Essentially what I knew about him was that he was a boring wrestler who was a bit lucky to earn a decision over Tyson Griffin.
That is definitely not the whole story.
Against Charles Oliveira, Lentz showed that he is a dynamic and aggressive competitor who is willing to scrap with anybody.
The fight earned “fight of the night” and it was certainly deserving of such.
What impresses me even more than Lentz’s skill and competitive fire was how classy he was to be defeated in controversial fashion.
Pretty early in the second round Lentz absorbed a clearly illegal knee to his face and the blow was incredibly damaging.
Most fighters would have mentally retreated and quit. Not Lentz.
Lentz fought like a warrior, but the damage was too much, and he eventually succumbed to a rear-naked choke.
After the fight was called off, Lentz did not seem upset about the obvious foul.
It is one thing to fight bravely against a dangerous opponent like Oliveira, and then a whole other thing to maintain one’s composure and react gracefully and respectfully in the face of injustice.
The outcome is going to be reviewed and there is a strong chance justice will be served with the result being overturned and changed to a “no contest.”
Now that I have seen what Nik Lentz is really all about—I am an undeniable fan.
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