UFC Vegas 68: Five Things We Learned
UFC Vegas 68 was an atypical night of fights. The main card did not start until 1 a.m. EST, we saw bad judging, bad officiating, a draw, terrible fights and impressive performances. If you like strangeness this card had no shortage of it. Nonetheless, the event left us with a handful of lessons to reflect on.
Here are five things we learned at UFC Vegas 68.
1. Serghei Spivac moves up the heavyweight rankings
In the UFC Vegas 68 main event, Serghei Spivac made quick work of Derrick Lewis as he earned a first-round submission. The bout was never that close as Spivac was miles ahead in the grappling department. “Polar Bear” was able to take Lewis down early and land a handful of mat returns to ensure the fight stayed in the grappling realm. Eventually, he was able to land an arm triangle that finished the fight.
With this win, Spivac will rise several spots in the UFC heavyweight rankings. Prior to the contest, Spivac was sitting at No. 12 while Lewis was at No. 7. Now, he will likely climb near that seven spot. As a result, Spivac will be looking at a step up in competition in his next fight.
After the bout, he called out Jon Jones. That certainly will not happen, but there is a chance he gets a fight against a top-six opponent. Regardless of who his next fight is against, Spivac was able to raise his stock at UFC Vegas 68.
2. Derrick Lewis’ freefall continues
When one fighter wins a main event, that means another had to lose. In this case, fan-favorite Derrick Lewis found himself on the wrong side of that equation.
The issue is that Lewis did not look good in the fight. Obviously, you never want to lose a fight, but it is possible to lose by dropping your stock. For example, at UFC Vegas 60, there we some positives from Song Yadong in his loss to Cory Sandhagen. That was not the case for Lewis, however. He was handled easily and did not provide much resistance before his submission loss.
This loss makes Lewis 1-4 in his last five fights. In that stretch, his only win came against Chris Daukaus, who is on a freefall of his own.
At 37 years old with 26 UFC fights under his belt, it is time to seriously begin questioning Lewis’ run in the promotion. In fairness, the UFC heavyweight division is not very deep, and he could hang around for a few more fights. Unfortunately, he is so far out of the title picture that he would likely be reserved as a gatekeeper which is not an optimal position for any fighter to find himself in.
3. Tatsuro Taira will be a problem for the top-15
Tatsuro Taira was one of the biggest winners of UFC Vegas 68. In the first round of his fight with Jesus Aguilar, Taira landed a triangle armbar to finish the fight in the first round. Aside from an early guillotine attempt from Aguilar, Taira remained in control for the entire fight.
Taira once again proved that he is a legit flyweight prospect. At just 23 years old, Taira has gone 3-0 in the UFC with two submission victories. With every impressive performance, Taira continues to look better. At this point, it is pretty clear that Taira will eventually break the top-15 and cause ranked flyweight issues.
4. Rinya Nakamura is an exciting bantamweight prospect
Rinya Nakamura won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2017 U23 World Championships and eventually retired from wrestling because of the delay of the 2020 Summer Olympics. Despite his extensive wrestling background, at UFC Vegas 68, Nakamura bit down on the mouthpiece and traded leather with Toshiomi Kazama. That did not bode well for Kazama as Nakamura knocked him out in under a minute. That is right, Nakamura is a world-class wrestler with elite knockout power.
Nakamura is a tremendous addition to the UFC bantamweight division. In an already elite division, it did not take long for Nakamura to become an elite prospect. I do not want to get too excited considering the fact that he is just one fight into his UFC career, but Nakamura’s name is one to watch in the future.
5. Pump the breaks on Yusaku Kinoshita
Yusaku Kinoshita looked outstanding in his appearance on DWCS and seemed to be a bright prospect. In his promotional debut at UFC Vegas 68, he was given a good opportunity in a bout with Adam Fugitt, who is 0-1 in the UFC. Unfortunately, the prospect did not live up to the hype as he was finished in the first round.
Despite the early hype surrounding Kinoshita’s name, there are serious questions about his future. Despite this being his UFC debut, it is hard to make excuses for losing to Fugitt. Not to mention, the loss came after Kinoshita was rocked on the feet which were supposed to be where he had an advantage.
I am not saying it is time to give Kinoshita his walking papers, but it is time to pump the breaks on his hype. Hopefully, Kinoshita can get a few wins a build himself back up because the potential is still there; however, the red flags are present as well.
***
