Pros react to Derrick Lewis’ knockout of Travis Browne, late referee stoppage

By Tom Taylor - February 20, 2017

Last night, the UFC touched down in snow covered Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for a second time. In the evening’s main event, streaking heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis faced arguably the biggest test of his already impressive career in towering Hawaiian Travis “Hapa” Browne.

Derrick Lewis

In the early moments of this fight, it looked like it could be a tough night for Lewis, as Browne appeared to hurt him repeatedly with spear-like kicks to the body. Though Lewis’ kryptonite might have been exposed by these body kicks, he ultimately survive the first round. Once the second began, the complexion of the fight changed dramatically.

After dropping Browne with a crackling overhand, Lewis climbed into full mount, where he treated Browne’s head like a basketball until the referee intervened. Given that Lewis was able to land multiple unanswered shots to the dazed Browne, many fans and pundits felt that the stoppage was late – impressive as it was.

Here’s how the MMA community reacted to Lewis’ knockout, and the questionable stoppage by the referee. Oh – and people also had a lot to say about Lewis’ post-fight interview, which referenced everything from bowel movements to “Ronda Rousey’s fine ass.”

https://twitter.com/MightyMouseUFC/status/833542077656948737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/thebigticket205/status/833542225137119232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

With this second-round bludgeoning of Browne, Lewis extended his win-streak to six, as he has separated himself from a January 2015 knockout loss to Shawn Jordan with defeats of Viktor Pesta, Damian Grabowski, Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Shamil Abdurakhimov, and now, Browne. His defeat of Nelson was the only bout he failed to win by knockout. He’s now a strong 18-4 overall.

Browne, meanwhile, is now on a three-fight skid. In his last three fights, he has been TKO’d by Cain Velasquez, decisioned by Fabricio Werdum, and now, KO’d by Lewis. What the future holds for the once highly-regarded contender is difficult to say.

What did you think of Derrick Lewis’ massive win, and the referee’s failure to stop the fight on time? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/20/2017.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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Derrick Lewis UFC Halifax