Moldova's Serghei Spivac continued his impressive form in the UFC heavyweight division with a first-round submission finish of Derrick Lewis at UFC Vegas 68, then set his sights on Jon "Bones" Jones.
Spivac headed into the bout as the betting favorite against the two-time former heavyweight title challenger, and he made good on the bookies' confidence as he finished "The Black Beast in three minutes, four seconds of the opening round with an arm-triangle choke to improve his record to 16-3.
Spivac's victory puts him on a three-fight win streak, with the 28-year-old "Polar Bear" adding Lewis to a UFC win list that includes the likes of Augusto Sakai, Greg Hardy, Alexei Oleinik and Tai Tuivasa.
Now Spivac wants to add the name of Jon Jones to his list of victims, and he called for a bout against the former light heavyweight champion in his post-fight interview.
"Derrick Lewis is great," he told Michael Bisping after his victory.
"He fought two times for the title. He's great, he's a legend. Today, it's just my time. The 'Polar Bear' is here. The 'Polar Bear' is coming.
"Give me someone from the top five. If I (say I want to fight) Jon Jones or Ciryl Gane, they'll make the fight? I want Jon Jones. Jon Jones, I respect you so much. Sorry, bro, but I'm coming!"
While Spivac's momentum continues to build, it's been the opposite story for Lewis. The Texan fan-favorite has now lost four of his last five, and is now on a three-fight skid following consecutive stoppage losses to Tuivasa, Sergei Pavlovich, and now Spivac.
In the co-main event, Devin Clark earned a shutout decision win as he earned 30-27s on all three scorecards to defeat South Korea's Da Un Jung, while Marcin Tybura picked up a unanimous decision victory over Blagoy Ivanov in their all-European heavyweight matchup.
The eagerly-anticipated return of "The Korean Superboy" Doo Ho Choi ended with no definitive victor as he and and Canada's Kyle Nelson battled to a majority draw.
One judge scored the bout 29-27 to Choi, but was overruled by the other two, who scored the bout 28-28 as the pair walked away with a share of the spoils.
Road to UFC crowns Season 2 winners
The second season of the Road to UFC series crowned a quartet of winners, with Anshul Jubli, Lee Jeong Yeong, Rina Nakamura and Park Hyun Song all claiming career-changing victories to earn a spot on the UFC roster.
India's Jubli defeated Indonesia's Jeka Saragih via second-round ground-and-pound TKO to punch his ticket to the UFC lightweight division, while South Korea's Lee earned a split-decision victory over Chinese hopeful Yi Zha to win the featherweight tournament
Japanese bantamweight Nakamura needed just 33 seconds to knock out compatriot Toshiomi Kazama, while South Korean flyweight Park defeated fellow countryman Seung Guk Choi via third-round rear-naked choke submission.
UFC Vegas 68: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Serghei Spivac def. Derrick Lewis via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:04
- Devin Clark def. Da-un Jung via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Marcin Tybura def. Blagoy Ivanov via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Doo Ho Choi vs. Kyle Nelson ruled a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
- Adam Fugitt def. Yusaku Kinoshita via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 4:36
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Anshul Jubli def. Jeka Saragih via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 2, 3:44 – Road to UFC lightweight tournament final
- Jeong Yeong Lee def. Yi Zha via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28) – Road to UFC featherweight tournament final
- Rinya Nakamura def. Toshiomi Kazama via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:33 – Road to UFC bantamweight tournament final
- Sung Hyun Park def. Seung Guk Choi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:11 – Road to UFC flyweight tournament final
- Park Jun Yong def. Denis Tiuliulin via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:05
- Tatsuro Taira def. Jesus Aguilar via submission (triangle armbar) – Round 1, 4:20
