Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis, 34, of Houston, Texas, United States was one of the winners at “UFC 244.” It was his 12th victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Featuring 12 mixed martial arts bouts, the UFC held “UFC 244” at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on November 2, 2019. In the ninth bout of the evening, Lewis competed in the heavyweight division against Blagoy “Baga” Ivanov, 33, of Sofia, Bulgaria.
Todd MacDonald served as the referee. After three five-minute rounds, the heavyweight bout was left in the hands of the judges, who scored it 30-27, 28-29 and 29-28.
In the end, MacDonald raised the hand of Lewis. The Texan MMA fighter was declared the winner via split decision.
“I thought for sure he was going to be rocked after a couple of them and I could finish them but he’s tough as hell,” Lewis said of Ivanov. “I was real shocked. (If it was) anybody else, they would have been out.”
Including Bulgaria and the U.S., eight countries were represented at “UFC 244.” The others were Belarus, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland and Suriname.
Ivanov solely represented Bulagaria. Lewis was one of the 15 representatives of the U.S.
Winning at “UFC 244” improved the professional MMA record of Lewis to 22 wins, 7 losses, 0 draw and 1 No Contest. On the other hand, Ivanov now has 18 wins, 3 losses, 0 draw and 1 No Contest.
Competing professionally since 2010, Till joined the UFC in 2014. The first 11 opponents he defeated in the promotion were Jack May, Ruan Potts, Victor Pesta, Damian Grabowski, Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Travis Browne, Marcin Tybura, Francis N’Gannou and Alexander Volkov.
In the main event of “UFC 244,” Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal, 34, of Miami, Florida, USA and Nate Diaz, 34, of Stockton, California, USA competed in the welterweight division. The former won via technical knockout due to doctor stoppage and earned the BMF belt presented by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
In the co-main event, Darren “Gorilla” Till, 26, of Liverpool, Merseyside, England fought Kelvin Gastelum, 28, of Yuma, Arizona, USA in the middleweight division. The English contender won via split decision.
Here is Joe Rogan’s post-fight interview with Lewis in the octagon:
CONAN Daily 