UFC Vegas 19 went down on Saturday evening and it had its fair share of action. We will give you our 4 questions following UFC Vegas 19 below.
4 Questions Following UFC Vegas 19 answered
Was it a late stoppage in the main event?
Many people, including myself, counted Derrick Lewis out of his main event battle against Curtis Blaydes. I thought this would be a one-sided beatdown, with Blaydes’ hand being raised. Well weren’t we mistaken?
Blaydes looked great in the first round, picking Lewis apart, utilizing his 80-inch reach. Landing jabs and digging on more than one occasion to the lead leg of Lewis. However, in the second round, a single punch put Blaydes to sleep.
Blaydes went for a shot from way too far out and Lewis timed a beautiful uppercut which dropped the heavyweight. A few hammerfists later and the action was called.
That is where the question comes into play — was it a late stoppage? Yes, Blaydes was out cold when he hit the canvas, but typically, in the referees meeting in the back you are told to fight until the referee stops you. Well, Lewis did just that. The man himself explained that in the post-fight discussion with the media.
“I can’t just turn the switch off just like that,” Lewis stated. “Some fighters can do that, but I can’t do it. I have to wait until the referee pulled me off because you never know what could happen. Anything could happen. He could’ve turned into (The) Undertaker and stood straight up and eat all those shots. You never know. You go until the referee says, ‘Chill out.’”
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What’s next for Andrei Arlovski?
Hopefully, retirement is what’s next for Arlovski. He was choked out by Tom Aspinall very quickly in the second round. In fact, if you blinked, got up to go get a drink or your kid called your name, then you would have missed the submission.
Making a name for himself!
Tom Aspinall submits Arlovski early in RD 2. #UFCVegas19 pic.twitter.com/3Qy5KYSNEr
— UFC (@ufc) February 21, 2021
Arlovski is 30-20, 2NC and is 3-5, 1NC in his last nine fights. The 42-year-old, former UFC heavyweight champion has been fighting professionally since 1999 and has fought the who’s who of the UFC heavyweight division. But at this point in his career, you can just see he does not stack up against the upper echelon or even against unranked opponents.
Should Chas Skelly get the win?
After two stoppages to kick off the UFC Vegas 19 card, many were excited to see what was next. Well, the next thing was downright peculiar.
Chas Skelly warmed up in the back, had his walkout song hit the speakers, made the walk to the Octagon and even stepped inside, just to find out that his opponent, Jamall Emmers had been forced to pull out of the fight due to back spasms.
“I can’t be angry at anybody. To be perfectly honest, the only thing I’m concerned about is getting paid,” Skelly said to the media. “I stepped in there, it’s beyond my control, I was in the cage. That’s the only concern I have. But to also just make sure Jamall’s okay. You don’t want anybody to get hurt like that. They said he had a back spam or back injury, I don’t know the extent of it, but that’s a scary thing, a bad injury. It’s really unfortunate and I just really hope he’s all right, to be honest.”
Skelly was ready to rock and unfortunately, Emmers wasn’t. We had a discussion amongst a group of friends who all had differing opinions. Should Skelly have picked up the victory for this. I am undecided as I write this.
On one hand, he didn’t fight, so he shouldn’t pick up the money or the win on his record. On the other hand, the man was inside the cage, waiting for his opponent to come out and he didn’t. The ring announcer, Joe Martinez had to announce that the fight had been cancelled. So again, I am not certain. One thing I do think, is Skelly should get his win bonus for this obscurity.
Can you give a sub-one-minute fight Fight of the Night?
We knew Nate Landwehr and Julian Erosa would deliver fireworks. I wasn’t certain my mind would be blown and the fight would end before the one-minute mark of the very first round.
Both men showed offensive prowess. Erosa landed a strong cross, but Landwehr followed up in the clinch, which dropped Erosa. He returned to the feet, fired back, which included a flying knee and the end came at just 56-seconds of round number one.
If the $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus goes to the most exciting fight, even if it only went 56-seconds, then this fight deserved just that. Give these men some money.
Those were our 4 questions following UFC Vegas 19.
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