"That graphic of falling head first is not a good one" - Michael Bisping on why Derrick Lewis vs. Sergei Pavlovich was a good stoppage by Dan Miragliotta

Derrick Lewis suffered his second loss in a row to Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 277, but the finish wasn't without controversy. Pavlovich blitzed Lewis back with a series of hard blows in the first minute, knocking 'The Black Beast' face first to the canvas with a big right hook. But Lewis jumped back to his feet the moment the referee ended things and contested the stoppage.

Fans who felt they were robbed of a chance to see Lewis battle back were not happy. Dana White called it an early stoppage. However, Michael Bisping thinks the outrage is a bit unjustified. During BT Sports' UFC 277 Review Show, he said:

"I feel for the guy, but I don't think it was that controversial ... Any time you see a man fall head first to the canvas, right? When you're the referee, and I understand, he did bounce back up. But when he falls head first to the canvas, your job as a referee is fighter safety. That is paramount above everything else. And we're not dealing with flyweights or featherweights or bantamweights, we're dealing with heavyweights."

"If that man's unconscious and he gets to eat another full force blow that Sergei can throw as hard as he can, and he's unconscious and cannot defend it, we can be talking life altering injuries. So at that moment in time, Dan Miragliotta had to make a split second decision. Was it the right one, was it the wrong one? Maybe you can make an argument both ways. But I understand why, because that graphic of falling head first is not a good one. Maybe when his head hit the canvas, that brought him back round and that's why he jumped back up, you never know."

Watch Michael Bisping break down the Derrick Lewis vs. Sergei Pavlovich stoppage below:

---

Sergei Pavlovich's manager says Derrick Lewis can get a rematch "if UFC wants"

It's rare for the UFC to run back a fight when something goes wrong in the cage, be it via an injury, foul, or referee mistake. It does happen, though. And according to Sergei Pavlovich's manager Ali Abdelaziz, it could happen with the Pavlovich vs. Lewis fight.

ESPN's Brett Okamoto shared that news on Twitter, writing:

Sergei Pavlovich’s manager Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) tells me he doesn’t think the stoppage of the Derrick Lewis fight was early last night (I would disagree), but if Derrick wants that fight again “he can get it if UFC wants.” I wouldn’t mind seeing it rebooked personally.

While Sergei Pavlovich is relatively unknown compared to Derrick Lewis, he's won 13 of his 16 fights via KO/TKO. It's no surprise to those in the know that he managed to finish 'The Black Beast' in under a minute. However, he's not getting the credit he deserves for his performance at UFC 277.

If he wants to prove what happened in Dallas, Texas wasn't a fluke, giving Derrick Lewis another shot is a good way of doing it.