Tomorrow night on the main card of UFC 277, one of the most popular heavyweights in the promotion will make his return. The heavyweight knockout king Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis (26-9, 1 NC) returns to the octagon as he takes on the surging Sergei Pavlovich (15-1).
Entering UFC 277, Pavlovich has won three fights in a row. He made his UFC debut back in 2018 when he was unbeaten and he took on Alistair Overeem. He lost to Overeem by TKO, but he hasn’t lost since.
He’s won his last three fights and all three have come via first round stoppage. In his last fight back in March, he stopped Shamil Abdurakhimov by first round stoppage. That being said, he’s going up against the greatest knockout artist in heavyweight history tomorrow night.
Derrick Lewis will be looking to bounce back after his loss to Tai Tuivasa at UFC 271. Lewis is 5-2 in his last seven fights but just 1-2 in his last three. His last win came against Chris Daukaus back in December by knockout. Worth noting, Lewis is 6-1 in his career coming off a loss.
UFC 277 Prediction
Like with any Derrick Lewis opponent, the path to victory is going to be pretty clear for Sergei Pavlovich. Pavlovich is going to want to get this fight to the ground and he’s going to want to do it in a hurry.
Whether he uses his wrestling to tire Lewis out at UFC 277 or he just controls him, that’s going to be his path to victory. He cannot afford to dance around with Lewis on the feet because Lewis is way too dangerous.
We’ve seen Lewis knock out Curtis Blaydes, Aleksei Oleinik, and Alexander Volkov in fights that he was losing. The Black Beast has power that can carry and he only needs to land one clean shot to put Pavlovich away.
When it comes to my UFC 277 prediction, I like Derrick Lewis. I think he’s going to fight with something to prove and I think he lands his big shot. I’m going to say it happens in the first as well. The Black Beast extends his record tomorrow night.
Prediction: Derrick Lewis by KO – Round 1