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UFC Vegas 19: Blaydes vs Lewis is in the books. The event took some dramatic turns all through the fight week, from beginning to end. Starting with unbelievable weight misses and last-minute bout cancellations before ending with shock defeats, it had everything that can capture a fight fan's imagination. Nothing tells the story of a fight night better than witty memes. They make us laugh and provide us with analogies that reflect the essence of outcomes. On this note, let's take a look at some of the best memes to see what happened at UFC Vegas 19.
1. The weighing scale shock - Rafael Alves weight miss
The MMA community was shocked when Rafael Alves weighed in at 157.5lb for his featherweight (145lb) fight against Pat Sabatini. The 11.5lb weight miss was so massive that Alves would have been overweight even for lightweight (155lb). It is difficult to remember the last time a fighter missed weight for not one but two weight classes in one single event. Even the scale was shocked. The fight was cancelled due to Rafael Alves' weight management issues. The fighter later revealed that food poisoning due to salmon caused the unforgivable weight miss and announced a lightweight move for his future fights.
2. The upset bride - Chas Skelly was left without a partner
Chas Skelly and his opponent Jamall Emmers successfully made weight for their featherweight (145lb) fight on the prelims of UFC Vegas 19. The fight was on. The stage was set. Skelly made the walk to the famed UFC octagon for the first time in over 17 months. But as he waited for his opponent to walk out, the broadcast team made an announcement that Jamall Emmers was being tended to by the medical team for back spasms and the bout was subsequently cancelled. The moment was the MMA equivalent of being dumped by your partner on your wedding day after going through the nervewrecking walk down the aisle.
3. Derrick Lewis carries a shooter up his sleeves
Curtis Blaydes was an overwhelmingly heavy favorite over Derrick Lewis in the main event fight of UFC Vegas 19 due to his technical superiority. The less active Derrick Lewis was losing on the judges' scorecards in the early going. Blaydes bounced in and out of Lewis' range to pick him apart with well-timed shots and vicious leg kicks while Lewis could not do a lot. Curtis Blaydes walked back to his corner with high morale at the end of the round. But he only came back in the second round to get knocked out by the Black Beast with a vicious uppercut. It turned out that Blaydes only brought a knife for a gunfight.
4. The frustration of UFC heavyweights
On paper, Derrick Lewis is one of the least-skilled fighters among active top tier UFC heavyweights. But the Cypress native has repeatedly scored impressive come-from-behind victories against some of the best fighters. He stays patient and waits for the right opportunity to land a shot and does not care where the fight goes until that opportunity shows. Lewis knows he only needs to connect on his opponents to win a fight. Travis Browne, Alexander Volkov and now Curtis Blaydes have found that out the hard way. If the heavyweights really feel what the meme shows, it is justified for them to feel that way after UFC Vegas 19.
5. Derrick Lewis made people rich... Very rich
Derrick Lewis pulled off the biggest underdog win in a UFC main event since Michael Bisping's middleweight title fight win over Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 in 2016. Those who bet their money on the Beast made a lot of paper.
6. Yana Kunitskaya followed Chael Sonnen's game plan
In the co-main event of UFC Vegas 19, Yana Kunitskaya fought Ketlen Vieira in the women's bantamweight fight. Vieira was able to take the fight to the mat and control Kunitskaya for the majority of the round. Her corner made a frenzied request to the Russian not to let Vieira impose her grappling. Someone on social media drew parallels between the corner advice and a brief scuffle between Ultimate Fighter coaches Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva, who said something similar to each other.
"Don't let the girl get close... you need to keep your distance... Don't let the girl get close," Yana Kunitskaya's corner could be heard saying before the start of round 2.
