The UFC’s first event in Kansas got a memorable main event on Saturday, with former world champion Junior Dos Santos stopping Derrick Lewis in the second round of a wild heavyweight battle to up his current winning streak to three at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita.
Lewis was active with his kicks in the early going, and Dos Santos tried to answer every strike from his foe, but when he got over aggressive in the second minute, Lewis cracked him hard with a punch upstairs. The two proceeded to rock each other with right hands, igniting the crowd, but both recovered quickly. In the final minute, a spinning back kick to the body doubled Lewis over, but as “Cigano” rushed in, Lewis swung back with a haymaker, apparently playing possum. But as the action resumed, Lewis doubled over again, still hurt to the body.
After that wild first round, it was going to be interesting to see if Lewis would recover, and a few hard kicks from the Texan showed him to be back in business as the second began. But Dos Santos patiently waited for his opportunity to strike, and after hurting Lewis with a right hand, he went on the attack. Lewis fell to the mat under the barrage, and after some unanswered ground strikes, referee Herb Dean stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:58 of round two.
With the win, the No. 8-ranked Dos Santos improves to 21-5. The No. 3-ranked Lewis falls to 21-7 with 1 NC.
