Junior Dos Santos crushes Derrick Lewis with second round TKO in UFC Wichita main event
Don’t look now but Junior Dos Santos is once again knocking on the door for title contention.
The former heavyweight champion earned his third straight win on Saturday night with a dominant showcase with a second round TKO against Derrick Lewis in the main event at the first ever UFC Fight Night card in Wichita, Kansas.
After falling to Stipe Miocic in 2017 in his last bid to win the title, Dos Santos has come storming back, looking better and better with each performance including a pair of TKO finishes in his past two fights in a row.
It was a wild start to the fight with both Dos Santos and Lewis landing huge bombs in the opening round that would probably put most heavyweights away.
Dos Santos was in pursuit from the opening second before landing a big right hand that staggered Lewis but just when it appeared that “The Black Beast” was hurt, he fired back with a right of his own that backed the Brazilian off.
As the round continued, Dos Santos started to look for more body shots when he uncorked a spinning heel kick that dug into Lewis’ midsecond.
Immediately, Lewis doubled over in pain but as soon as Dos Santos followed up, he nearly caught a missile coming from his opponent who was hurt but still quite dangerous. Lewis continued to clutch his stomach for the remainder of the round but Dos Santos was wary of rushing in too fast because he saw the kind of power the former title contender was still packing even while he was hurting.
Between rounds, Lewis’ corner implored him to go for the finish, realizing the kind of damage he took from that body shot while Dos Santos saw his confidence soar, knowing that the end was likely near.
As the second round got underway, Lewis tried to up his defense but Dos Santos was coming after him with precise combinations that continued to find a home again and again.
Dos Santos finally timed a picture perfect right hand that came straight down the middle and blasted Lewis on the chin, as he quickly covered up and went into survival mode thanks to the ill-effect of that devastating punch.
This time there was no wild haymaker to throw as a counter strike because Dos Santos swarmed on Lewis with punches until he crumbled to the canvas. A huge barrage of punches followed until referee Herb Dean could swoop in for the save with Dos Santos immediately celebrating his handiwork.
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The end came at 1:58 into the second round.
It was another big win for Dos Santos as he climbs even further up the heavyweight rankings and it’s going to be awfully tough to keep him away from title contention much longer.
“I want fights, UFC,” Dos Santos said while asking the promotion to keep him busy in 2019. “To tell you the truth, how can these guys be in front of me in the rankings. I’m here to fight again and regain my belt.”
Considering the streak he’s put together recently, Dos Santos almost assuredly has to be staring at a No. 1 contender’s bout in his next fight when he returns to action later this year. As for Lewis, he falls for the second consecutive time after losing to heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier last November.
Lewis has been a tough out for anybody in the heavyweight division but now he’ll have to climb out of a hole when he returns to action as he tries to avoid the dreaded three-fight losing streak in the UFC.
