Derrick Lewis
The Black Beast
USA
35-second main event victory
Lewis defeated Tallison Teixeira via TKO (punches) at 0:35 of Round 1 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Nashville.
ANALYSIS
Lewis turned 40 years of age in February. He's still a below-average athlete for a UFC fighter and has long had questionable cardio, but his pure power is amongst the best in the history of the sport, and they say power is the last thing to go. Teixeira found that out firsthand here. The latter clipped Lewis with a shot to the eye immediately after the opening bell rang, but the blow seemed to only serve to anger Lewis. Derrick pushed forward swinging for the bleachers, and one left hook connected with Teixeira's chin. A handful of follow-up shots later and referee Jason Herzog had seen enough. Lewis is more of an attraction than anything else at this late stage of his career, but he's still capable of selling out an arena and putting on a masterful performance such as this. He remains one of the most popular fighters in the company.
Lewis turned 40 years of age in February. He's still a below-average athlete for a UFC fighter and has long had questionable cardio, but his pure power is amongst the best in the history of the sport, and they say power is the last thing to go. Teixeira found that out firsthand here. The latter clipped Lewis with a shot to the eye immediately after the opening bell rang, but the blow seemed to only serve to anger Lewis. Derrick pushed forward swinging for the bleachers, and one left hook connected with Teixeira's chin. A handful of follow-up shots later and referee Jason Herzog had seen enough. Lewis is more of an attraction than anything else at this late stage of his career, but he's still capable of selling out an arena and putting on a masterful performance such as this. He remains one of the most popular fighters in the company.
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Next fight scheduled
Lewis (undisclosed) is scheduled to compete against Tallison Teixeira in a heavyweight fight at UFC Nashville on July 12, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
Lewis has not fought in over a year because of a medical issue. The heavyweight will look to continue building momentum after finishing Rodrigo Nascimento in St. Louis.
Lewis has not fought in over a year because of a medical issue. The heavyweight will look to continue building momentum after finishing Rodrigo Nascimento in St. Louis.
Drops out of fight
Lewis withdrew from his scheduled fight against Jhonata Diniz at UFC Edmonton on Friday, Nolan King of USA Today reports.
ANALYSIS
The reason for Lewis' withdrawal is being described as a "non-weight cut medical issue," neither fighter will participate in Saturday's event.
The reason for Lewis' withdrawal is being described as a "non-weight cut medical issue," neither fighter will participate in Saturday's event.
Now expected to fight Diniz
Lewis will take on Jhonata Diniz in a heavyweight bout at UFC Edmonton on Nov. 2, Nolan King of USA Today reports.
ANALYSIS
Lewis was originally scheduled to face Alexandr Romanov, but now it appears that the UFC would like to split up this main event. That leaves Lewis in line to face Diniz, which should be a fascinating fight. Diniz has yet to lose professionally, but he's just 2-0-0 in the UFC. Lewis, meanwhile, is of course an all-time great UFC fighter, most recently coming off a win over Rodrigo Nascimento.
Lewis was originally scheduled to face Alexandr Romanov, but now it appears that the UFC would like to split up this main event. That leaves Lewis in line to face Diniz, which should be a fascinating fight. Diniz has yet to lose professionally, but he's just 2-0-0 in the UFC. Lewis, meanwhile, is of course an all-time great UFC fighter, most recently coming off a win over Rodrigo Nascimento.
Will fight Alexandr Romanov
Lewis is scheduled to face Alexandr Romanov in a heavyweight matchup at UFC Edmonton on November 2, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Lewis' previous bout finished with a victory as he defeated Rodrigo Nascimento via TKO at UFC Fight Night in St. Louis. Derrick will look to build off this momentum in order to take on Alexandr Romanov, who has lost three of his last four fights and has been showing signs of decline.
Lewis' previous bout finished with a victory as he defeated Rodrigo Nascimento via TKO at UFC Fight Night in St. Louis. Derrick will look to build off this momentum in order to take on Alexandr Romanov, who has lost three of his last four fights and has been showing signs of decline.
Scores another main event victory
Lewis defeated Rodrigo Nascimento via TKO (punches) at 0:49 of Round 3 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in St. Louis.
ANALYSIS
This appeared to be an inevitable outcome in a fight Lewis appeared comfortable the entire way despite some early struggles. Derrick decided to try to grapple Nascimento early on, which actually didn't go all that badly, except for when Rodrigo reversed positions on him. The Brazilian racked up some more control time in Round 2, but Lewis never appeared to be in any legitimate trouble despite having Nascimento on his back. The dam predictably broke early in Round 3 when one of Lewis' trademark right hands connected and led to the finish. In order to defeat "The Black Beast" you either need to be an elite, high-level grappler, which Nascimento is, or be able to damage him on the feet, which Nascimento couldn't do. Lewis, now 39 years of age, remains as popular as ever despite being lightyears from the title picture. He should continue to get headlining gigs on Fight Night cards moving forward.
This appeared to be an inevitable outcome in a fight Lewis appeared comfortable the entire way despite some early struggles. Derrick decided to try to grapple Nascimento early on, which actually didn't go all that badly, except for when Rodrigo reversed positions on him. The Brazilian racked up some more control time in Round 2, but Lewis never appeared to be in any legitimate trouble despite having Nascimento on his back. The dam predictably broke early in Round 3 when one of Lewis' trademark right hands connected and led to the finish. In order to defeat "The Black Beast" you either need to be an elite, high-level grappler, which Nascimento is, or be able to damage him on the feet, which Nascimento couldn't do. Lewis, now 39 years of age, remains as popular as ever despite being lightyears from the title picture. He should continue to get headlining gigs on Fight Night cards moving forward.