Tomorrow night in the headliner of UFC Vegas 65 we will see a battle in the heavyweight division. The all time heavyweight knockout king returns as Derrick Lewis (26-10) is back to take on “The Polar Bear” Sergey Spivak (15-3).
Lewis finds himself in a high pressure situation as he enters this contest having lost three of his last four. Starting with his interim title fight with Ciryl Gane. After that, he knocked out Chris Daukaus, and then he lost back-to-back against Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich.
He will be looking to make a statement tomorrow night showing the rest of the division that he’s still here and he’s still a factor. Meanwhile, Spivak is looking for the biggest win of his UFC career.
Spivak enters the contest having gone 5-1 in his last six fights including back-to-back finishes over Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai. He continues improving fight after fight and he’s looking to impose his will over “The Black Beast” tomorrow night.
UFC Vegas 65 Prediction
When you look at both of these men, Spivak seems to be the safe pick. His grappling is sensational and he’s very suffocating in terms of his attack. He is also riding a ton of momentum entering this headliner.
It’s easy to see a fight where Spivak imposes his will and gets Lewis to the ground where he dominates the fight. However, I always have pause in picking Lewis’ fights because of that nuclear option. He has more power than virtually anyone in the history of the UFC.
I’ve gone back-and-forth on this pick. At the end of the day, I’m going with Derrick Lewis. I think he finds something clean in the first round and extends his all time record for the most knockouts in heavyweight history.
Prediction: Derrick Lewis by KO