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Lightweight Bout: John Lewis (jiu-jitsu) vs. Lowell Anderson (jiu-jitsu) |
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Coming into the match, I was really happy that grabbing the Octagon was illegal. Lewis was a lot less boring and a lot more explosive than he was in his EFC days though. His hand speed was not as good as Belfort's, but better than anyone else that has been in the UFC in recent memory. As usual, I thought that Lewis could have been more aggressive than he was. However, I can't really fault him here because he forced Anderson to fight his match, and he clearly beat him by doing so. Anderson just didn't have the all around ability to beat Lewis. He might have been able to match Lewis in jiu-jitsu, I really have no idea because Lewis never gave us the chance to find out. Lewis kept it in standup for almost the entire match. Anderson wanted to take Lewis down in the worst way, but Lewis didn't respect his striking ability and Anderson didn't have the speed or power, so there were never any opportunities. It took him nine minutes to get Lewis down, then the second round ended before he could do anything. Anderson tried to air it out at the start of the third round because
he was losing and needed to be at least a little successful in this
aspect to open things up for what he really wanted to do, get a second
takedown. The logic was fine except it was all too obvious that he had
no chance of even matching Lewis in striking, so in actuality he was
playing right into Lewis' hand. Lewis got a hold of his head and did
a couple knee lifts that Takada wishes he could do to someone who wasn't
letting him. This messed Anderson's nose up, and he turned and started
running away. Lewis was in hot pursuit, but Anderson's corner threw
the towel in before he could get the KO. Jason: This match was mostly all stand-up striking, which gave Lewis the huge advantage. Anderson couldn't get through Lewis' strikes to take him down to the mat except for at the end of the second round where he just jumped on Lewis and let gravity take them to the ground. Anderson couldn't show any of his Gracie training during the brief moments he had Lewis on the mat because time ran out in the second round. Lewis just dominated with strikes in the third round, ending it quick when Anderson came in close to attempt a shoot. Lewis did the most damage here with knees to Anderson's head that caused his corner to throw in the towel. Exciting match if you are a fan of the pure strikers. Miko: John Lewis is probably most famous for his rather dull draw with Carlson Gracie Jr, a fight where he spent much of the fight just hanging onto the fence, despite more than holding his own on the mat with Carlson Jr. Tall and tattooed, Lewis really showed how a broad range of skills can be used in the octagon. Despite both men being technically JJ, Lewis dominated by controling where the fight would be fought, staying on his feet and striking very effectively. An impressive showing by Lewis. I'd be interesting to see if he can do the same to someone like Mikey Burnett though. Special Thanks to: Jason Higgs & Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro 4:42 (remaining) in round 3 |
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