Derrick Lewis immediately made himself a fan favourite on Saturday night after beating Alexander Volkov. Footage shows that he wouldn't have won without the brilliant advice he got from his corner at the end of round two.
You might think that the most memorable moment from UFC 229 was Khabib Nurmagomedov launching himself into the crowd after he'd tapped out Conor McGregor but you'd be wrong. It was of course Derrick Lewis and his 'hot balls.'
Lewis was involved in an excellent heavyweight fight with Russian Alexander Volkov. It was a fight between the second and fifth seeds in UFC's heaviest division but it was the man ranked fifth who was on top for much of it.
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Volkov's long rangy legs kept his opponent at distance and he was easily ahead at the end of the second round. That meant Lewis needed a stoppage in the third, and boy did he get it.
However before he could go out for the third round his corner gave him some excellent advice that he deployed down to a t in order to get the win:
Lewis had seemingly picked up an eye injury in the first round and was constantly holding his eye, with the referee stopping the fight at one point to make sure he hadn't been poked.
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Instead he soaked up the pressure from his opponent before taking the great advice he'd been given on board.
In the third round he started closing the gap to Volkov in an attempt to find the knockout. He threw a few wild shots that didn't land but the perfect jab set up a knockdown and then the ground attack followed to give him an important stoppage.
Lewis now has a very quick turnaround for his next fight as last night he was announced as part of the main event for UFC's latest show at Madison Square Garden.
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At UFC 230 he will fight Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title, he has his corner to thank for the opportunity.
Featured Image Credit:Topics:Β UFC 229, Daniel Cormier, UFC News, MMA News