Check out which fighters won performance bonuses from UFC Vegas 45: Lewis vs. Daukaus
The APEX Center in Las Vegas, Nevada was home to a great evening of fights at UFC Vegas 45: Lewis vs. Daukaus. The card saw seven (T)KOs, three submissions and three decisions, including one split-decision.
Performance of the Night: Swanson, Gatto
Fight of the Night: Lemos vs. Hill
The prelims portion of the show opened with Jordan Leavitt snaring Matt Sayles in the ultra-rare inverted triangle in the second round, kicking the show off to a tremendous start. Josh Parisian would fall to Don’Tale Mayes via TKO in the third round after an intense battle between the heavies. Raquel Pennington trapped Macy Chiasson in a guillotine she couldn’t escape from, taking the submission victory in the second round. Charles Jourdain dominated Andre Ewell from start to finish, battering the living daylights out of Ewell so much that many on social media found it a hard watch. Melissa Gatto knocked out Sijara Eubanks in the third round, handing ‘SarJ’ her seventh loss in the process. Justin Tafa wasted no time sending Harry Hunsucker to the nether realms with a first round TKO. Gerald Meerschaert secured his 26th submission win when he caught Dustin Stolzfus in a rear-naked choke in the third round to finish off the undercard.
Prelims: (4pm ET, ESPN+)
- Gerald Meerschaert def. Dustin Stoltzfus by submission (RNC) at 2:58 of round 3: Middleweight
- Justin Tafa def. Harry Hunsucker by TKO at 1:53 of round 1: Heavyweight
- Melissa Gatto def. Sijara Eubanks by TKO at :45 of round 3: (W) Flyweight
- Charles Jourdain def. Andre Ewell by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-27): Featherweight
- Raquel Pennington def. Macy Chiasson by submission (Guillotine) at 3:07 of round 2: Featherweight
- Don’Tale Mayes def. Josh Parisian by TKO at 3:26 of round 3: Heavyweight
- Jordan Leavitt def. Matt Sayles by submission (Inverted Triangle) at 2:05 of round 2: Lightweight
The main card opened with Cub Swanson boxing up Darren Elkins pretty handily, scoring the first round TKO finish to kick off this portion of the event. That was followed by Mateusz Gamrot taking the win away from Diego Ferreira via second round TKO. Ricky Simon absolutely melted Raphael Assuncao via second round knockout after tuning him up the entire first round. One has to think Assuncao isn’t long for the UFC at this point. Angela Hill was once again in a close split-decision battle that saw her come out on the losing end when Amanda Lemos got the nod. I had it for Hill, yet somehow, a judge saw it 30-27 for Lemos. Belal Muhammad worked Stephen Thompson over like a Christmas dinner, controlling the range and eating ‘Wonderboy’ up with punches on the inside, and owning the takedown game and grappling handily. We will remember your name, Belal.
The main event saw Derrick Lewis and Chris Daukaus try to be cautious of each other for about 70 seconds before Lewis started cornering Chris and then opening up on him. Daukaus tried to defend but the Beast was all over him, demolishing him with one devastating blow after another, scoring the first round KO. He then pulled his cup out of his shorts and threw it into the audience, following that moment with an epic interview where he declared he didn’t want to be the main event anymore because “F* those five rounds!” Lewis now holds the record for most knockouts inside the UFC octagon. HUZZAH!
Main Card: (7pm ET, ESPN+)
- Cub Swanson def. Darren Elkins by TKO at 2:12 of round 1: Featherweight
- Mateusz Gamrot def. Diego Ferreira by TKO at 3:26 of round 2: Lightweight
- Ricky Simon def. Raphael Assuncao by KO at 2:14 of round 2: Bantamweight
- Amanda Lemos def. Angela Hill by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): Strawweight
- Belal Muhammad def. Stephen Thompson by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26 x2): Welterweight
- Derrick Lewis def. Chris Daukaus by KO at 3:36 of round 1: Heavyweight