Two of the UFC’s heaviest hitters square off in the main event of UFC Fight Night 110 on June 11th, 2017 at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.
On A Winning Streak
Derrick Lewis has won his last six fights, five of them by knockout. The Black Beast is coming off a knockout of Travis Browne in Halifax, Nova Scotia last February 19th. The surging Lewis owns victories over Gabriel Gonzaga and Roy Nelson during his winning streak, as well. Lewis is primarily a striker with some boxing background. He only averages 0.72 takedowns per 15 minutes on a 33% accuracy, while 14 of his last 15 wins have been by knockout. Lewis averages 3.72 significant strikes landed per minute and has a 79-inch reach which should be crucial in this matchup.
One Punch KO Power
Mark Hunt, meanwhile, is coming off a knockout loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 209. The Super Samoan has lost 4 of his last 6 bouts, although one of those losses (to Brock Lesnar) has been overturned to a no-decision. Hunt averages 3.02 significant strikes per minute on a 43.9% accuracy. But with him, it’s not the numbers that matter. Hunt is the king of the walk-off one punch knockout so any fight with him in it can end anytime regardless of statistics. Like Lewis, he doesn’t fancy takedowns, averaging only 0.62 takedowns per 15 minutes. Hunt is already 43 years old and has been hit or miss lately. But with the power he packs, he needs only one big punch to win against anybody.
Odds And Prediction
Anytime you have two equally powerful monsters, it’s got to be an even fight and his one’s understandably as close that as it can be. Lewis is a -125 favorite, while Hunt is even money as a +100 underdog. Fair enough. This should be an old school bar brawl where these two fighters will stand in front of each other at the center of the Octagon, trading bombs until one of them falls asleep on the canvas.
We know Mark Hunt will be the crowd favorite with this fight being in New Zealand. We believe he may also possess the harder punch, hence he is the more dangerous fighter between the two. But we’ve seen how these two have fared in recent fights. Lewis not only has a seven inch reach advantage, he has also shown better form as of late. This fight isn’t going the distance. Derrick Lewis is going to knock out Mark Hunt.