Travis Browne, left, from Hawaii, receives medical attention after being knocked out by Derrick Lewis, right, from New Orleans, in a heavyweight bout. Photo / AP.
Derrick Lewis monstered Ronda Rousey's boyfriend Travis Browne as the main event of the UFC Fight Night in Halifax ended in just the second round.
Lewis absolutely pulverised Browne, sending him crashing to the floor where he remained motionless. The brutal KO gave Lewis his sixth win from as many fights.
Lewis copped some early damage as Browne laid into him with a series of body kicks, but he couldn't sustain his dominance.
Lewis came after Browne with a heavy barrage of strikes in the second round as he got inside while blasting away with devastating power to the head and the body. All Browne could do was cover up to try and absorb some of the shots, but Lewis was unrelenting with his attacks and never gave his opponent a moment to breathe.
After a few exchanges, Lewis even managed to toss Browne to the mat where he typically unleashes his most hellish punches, but those few moments on the ground didn't precipitate the end of the fight.
In fact it was Lewis throwing a haymaker on the feet that ricocheted off of the top of Browne's head during an exchange later in the round that rattled him before he wobbled and fell to the mat.
Lewis had no intentions of letting Browne get back up again as he followed him to the mat and unleashed several monstrous punches before referee Mario Yamasaki finally stepped in to stop the carnage.
As Browne ate punch after punch to the head, many UFC fighters and fans were outraged the referee let Lewis continue to unleash blows on a clearly hapless victim.
Typical Yamaski by the way. No surprise there. He literally waited until Browne was in a coma before waving the fight off. #UFCHalifax
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) February 20, 2017
Lewis didn't come away unscathed though. He was holding his stomach after the fight, clearly affected by some of the hits Browne landed in the opening round, and required attention after the bout.
Browne has been accused of domestic violence by a former girlfriend, and Lewis took his opportunity with the microphone after the fight to hurt Rousey's partner in more than just a physical sense.
"I just knew I had a bigger heart than him. He calls himself a man but he likes to put his hands on women. Forget that guy," Lewis said. "Where's Ronda Rousey's fine a** at?"
Lewis continued to amuse with his active tongue in the aftermath, saying he was only clutching his stomach because he had a "boo boo" and just needed to relieve himself via a number two in the bathroom.
He also claimed he was going to take a break from fighting because he's tired from all the exercise he's been getting in the bedroom.
"I need a break. Fighting every other month or every two months like that puts me in a bad mood at home with my family. So I feel like I just need some time off. I don't want to hear nothing about no fighting for the next three months," Lewis said.
"All the training and all the sex I've been getting, my body needs some time off."
- with Damon Martin, Fox Sports US
SPINNING WHEEL KICK IGNITES FIGHT NIGHT
THE UFC's visit to Canada kicked off with a bang as Thiago Santos delivered a textbook spinning wheel kick to finish Jack Marshman.
Looking to respond to two first round defeats in his past two fights, the Brazilian was the more active fighter in the opening five minutes, before Marshman landed an overhand right which dropped his opponent.
But Santos re-assumed control in the second round before catching his Welsh opponent completely by surprise with a savage boot to the dome.
Santos followed up with three clean hits on the ground to force the stoppage.
Earlier, Gerald Meerschaert opened proceedings with a clinical submission win against Ryan Janes.
Meerschaert expertly moved his hips from bottom position to lock in an armbar which forced a quick tap.
Tonight's card is headlined by a heavyweight bout between top 10-ranked fighters Derrick Lewis and Travis Browne.
Former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, who has been plagued by weight problems in the past 12 months, jumps up to the middleweight limit against Hector Lombard.
MCMANN TAPS NEWCOMER IN 74 SECONDS
Sara McMann was supposed to make short work of UFC newcomer Gina Mazany and that's exactly what she did to earn her third straight victory in the women's bantamweight division.
McMann was originally scheduled to face former title contender Liz Carmouche, but an injury forced her off the card and Mazany accepted the matchup on just over two weeks notice.
According to the oddsmakers, McMann was the biggest favorite on the entire card and her performance showed why as the former Olympic silver medalist in wrestling quickly took Mazany to the mat before she powered through to a submission.
McMann has always enjoyed a wrestling advantage over virtually every opponent for obvious reasons, but she had to work to keep Mazany down at first before advancing her position to get into the mount.
From there, McMann latched onto an arm-triangle choke - the same submission she used to finish former title contender Alexis Davis in her last fight - and then squeezed like an anaconda holding onto its prey as Mazany grimaced while the air was cut off from her lungs.
A second later, Mazany tapped out with the stoppage coming at just 1:14 into the opening round.
Afterwards, McMann once again made her case for a title shot at she looked to face the winner of the expected bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko that will most likely take place at some point in 2017.
It's tough to say whether McMann earned that shot with a win over Mazany, but at the very least she's sent notice to the top fighters in the world at 135 pounds that she's ready to tackle championship competition.
HENDRICKS TAKES CARE OF LOMBARD
Johny Hendricks fought in a new weight class for the first time in his UFC career and it's clear he felt better than ever before.
Hendricks had suffered through some brutal weight cuts in recent years to continue competing at 170 pounds, but when his biggest fight ended up against the scale rather than his opponents, he knew it was time for a change.
So Hendricks ventured up to 185 pounds where he was immediately matched up with heavy hitting slugger Hector Lombard at UFC Fight Night in Halifax.
Hendricks definitely had something to prove after his recent slide, but Lombard wasn't far behind after an up and down career at 170 pounds in the UFC followed by a stunning knockout loss to Dan Henderson last July.
Poor conditioning has hurt Lombard in the past so he made it a point to pace himself against Hendricks rather than storming out of the gates looking for the knockout in the first few seconds of the fight.
The plan worked early as Lombard countered Hendricks several times when the former welterweight champion kept throwing low kicks that resulted in a takedown while also trapping him against the cage.
Lombard did open up with a flurry of punches in the opening round, but Hendricks played solid defence before escaping back to the centre of the Octagon.
With his corner instructing him to open up with his offence more in round two, Hendricks started finding a home with his overhand left as well as several hard knees.
Lombard didn't back down while cracking Hendricks with a couple hard right hands that landed flush on the former champion, but his chin held up well in the face of some serious punching power from his opponent.
As the third round got underway, Hendricks looked light on his feet as he continued to pop Lombard with punches every time he over pursued with an offensive attack moving forward.
While Hendricks used constant movement to set up his strikes, Lombard struggled to find a home for his best punches while staying flat footed as he plodded forward. Hendricks made effective use of his striking at distance while never engaging in a fire fight against a well known knockout striker like Hendricks.
When it was over, Hendricks celebrated as he earned the unanimous decision victory (30-27 x 2, 29-28) while starting a new career as a middleweight in the UFC.
"The sky's the limit," Hendricks said after getting his hand raised. "I have energy. I can't wait to see what I can do in the future."
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: LEWIS VS BROWNE
Middleweight
Gerald Meerschaert defeated Ryan Janes via submission (armbar) - R1, 1:34
Thiago Santos defeated Jack Marshman via TKO (spinning kick and punches) - R2, 2:21
Bantamweight
Aiemann Zahabi defeated Reginaldo Vieira via unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27)
Women's Strawweight
Randa Markos defeated Carla Esparza via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Welterweight
Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated Nordine Taleb via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Lightweight
Paul Felder defeated Alessandro Ricci via TKO (elbow and punches) - R1, 4:44
Catchweight (139.5 pounds)
Sara McMann defeated Gina Mazany via submission (triangle choke) - R1, 1:14
Middleweight
Elias Theodorou defeated Cezar Ferreira via unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27)
Featherweight
Gavin Tucker defeated Sam Sicilia via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Middleweight
Johny Hendricks beat Hector Lombard via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Heavyweight
Derrick Lewis defeated Travis Browne via TKO - R2, 3:12
Kara-France joined the UFC in 2018 when the flyweight division was in a state of flux.