The UFC is finalizing a very important fight for the heavyweight division for November. Per Brett Okamoto, “The Black Beast” Derrick Lewis (24-7, 1 NC) will be taking on Curtis “Razor” Blaydes (14-2, 1 NC) on November 28th.
Breaking: Curtis Blaydes (@RazorBlaydes265) vs. Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) will headline UFC Fight Night on 11/28, location TBD. Blaydes asked for it, knows Lewis is a fan favorite and wants to build momentum. Lewis was down, wanted time to get in peak shape. Should be good.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 18, 2020
UFC Title Eliminator?
The fight between Blaydes and Lewis pairs together the UFC‘s second and fourth ranked contenders at heavyweight. UFC 252 saw Stipe Miocic retain his title, and now the dominoes in the division are starting to fall into place.
Derrick Lewis just became the heavyweight knockout king at UFC Vegas 6 with his stoppage over Alexey Oleynik. Lewis came out like a bat out of hell in the second round to stop Oleynik in 21 seconds.
The win was Lewis’ third straight win. Lewis also has wins over Ilir Latifi and Blagoy Ivanov in this winning streak. Lewis is one of the more popular fighters in the UFC, and you can bet fans are hoping he gets another crack at UFC gold one day.
A big road block stands in his way in Curtis Blaydes. Blaydes is coming off of a decision win over Alexander Volkov back in June at UFC on ESPN 11. It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but Blaydes got the job done.
The win was the fourth in a row for Blaydes. Since his UFC debut back in 2016, the only man to defeat Blaydes inside the octagon is current top contender, Francis Ngannou. Ngannou has stopped Blaydes twice.
The fight between Lewis and Blaydes will likely determine who will get a title shot in early 2021. It’s clear that Ngannou will get the next shot unless the UFC pivots to Jon Jones. Either way, the Lewis – Blaydes fight has massive title picture implications.
