A clash of top 15 heavyweights headlines the UFC’s return to St. Louis, ending a six-year hiatus from the city when Derrick Lewis takes on Rodrigo Nascimento.
Derrick Lewis vs. Rodrigo Nascimento Preview
Derrick Lewis is one of the most polarizing figures in MMA. ‘The Black Beast’ is the record holder for most knockouts in UFC history, bringing devastating power to the Octagon whenever he steps inside. Despite being one of the highly touted heavyweights of all time, Lewis has recently found himself on a cold streak. With a 1-4 record in his last five that included three losses by finish, Lewis has struggled as of late. Despite a lopsided loss to Jailton Almeida last time out, Lewis showed that he could survive 25 minutes on the ground with a dangerous grappler. That experience and improvement in grappling will be useful in this fight.
Rodrigo Nascimento is much earlier in his career than Lewis. With just 12 fights, he’s facing a fighter with over three times his experience in Derrick Lewis. This fight is a crucial step in Nascimento’s career, with Lewis being a massive step up in competition. Nascimento enters the fight on a three-fight winning streak, which would be four if not for a positive test for PEDs in 2021. Despite that fight now being ruled as a no-contest, Nascimento still holds an impressive 4-1 record in the UFC. All of his wins while on this streak are by decision, so a big finish against his toughest test would be a massive statement.
Recap
Both men came out looking to work in the clinch, with Derrick Lewis landing a surprising judo throw. Nascimento worked back to his feet and the two continued clinching before a separation that saw Lewis land some big shots. Nascimento ended up clinching again with a successful takedown landed as he looked to pound Lewis out early. Lewis ended up reversing position late and ended the round on top but didn’t get any effective offense off.
Lewis rocked Nascimento early to start Round 2 but clinched up instead of going for the finish. The pair separated where Lewis landed a big uppercut but clinched up quickly. Once they separated Lewis started landing some bombs and had Nascimento hurt and on his back foot. Another clinch followed but Lewis landed some big shots including an elbow on the break. Lewis made a mistake and shot a takedown which allowed Nascimento to quickly look to his back and look to snatch the neck but was unable to find anything.
Lewis landed a flying body kick to start the third round. Lewis followed up with a massive right overhand on the temple and put Nascimento down early in Round 3. He followed up with some big ground and pound and forced the ref to stop the fight just under a minute into Round 3.
UFC Fighters React to Derrick Lewis Grabbing Yet Another Big KO Win
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