The UFC has finalized a huge matchup in their heavyweight division featuring two of the biggest knockout artists in the promotion. MMA Junkie was the first to report this afternoon that “The Black Beast” Derrick Lewis (26-8, 1 NC) will be taking on Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa (14-3) next.
The matchup will take place in Lewis’ hometown of Houston, Texas at UFC 271 on February 12th. This is a huge opportunity for Tuivasa to make the jump towards the very top of the heavyweight division. The last time we saw Bam Bam was back at UFC 269 when he took on Augusto Sakai.
Tuivasa was able to secure the knockout win which he followed with his signature shoey. The win was Tuivasa’s fourth straight win and all four of those wins have come via knockout. Three of the four wins came in the first round.
After starting out his career unbeaten, Tuivasa went through a UFC rough patch in 2018/2019. He lost three straight and looked like he was going to get cut from the promotion. However, he started taking things more seriously and the results have been incredible. Now, he’s a win away from being in UFC title contention.
UFC Houston return for The Black Beast
Last month, Derrick Lewis made a massive statement when he returned to the UFC’s APEX. Lewis was coming off of a heartbreaking loss against Ciryl Gane where he came up short in Houston at UFC 265. The loss to Gane snapped a four-fight winning streak.
He was so gun-shy and tentative in the Gane fight that many were picking against him when he fought Chris Daukaus. In fact, Daukaus was the betting favorite. However, Lewis shut everyone up when he stormed Daukaus and knocked him out in the first round.
Now, the UFC’s knockout king is ready to make another run at the title. That run features another stop in his hometown against Tai Tuivasa. I don’t know who is going to win this fight, but I do think someone is going out. This should be a matchup that you don’t want to turn away from.