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UFC Top 10 heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Travis Browne collide at UFC Fight Night 105 on February 19, 2017 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada with the winner moving on to greener pastures and the loser moving down the heavyweight ladder.
New Main Event
Brown and Lewis were set to square off at UFC 208 on February 11 in Brooklyn but after the Halifax event lost its main event of Dos Santos vs Struve following Struve’s injury, the heavyweight showdown between Hapa and the Black Beast was moved to the promotion’s next event as its headliner. The move speaks a lot about the promise of Lewis and the drawing power of Browne, who is more popularly known as Ronda Rousey’s boyfriend.
Black Beast
Derrick Lewis isn’t the Black Beast for nothing. He’s recorded a knockout in all but two of his 17 wins. He’s lost four times though, two by KO but has won five bouts in a row, four of them by knockout via punches. The only opponent he didn’t knockout during this run was Roy Nelson and we know Big Country has the best chin in the business. Lewis has tremendous power in his punches and that’s his main weapon. What impressed us with Lewis is how he’s improved the other facets of his game lately. In his most recent bout against sambo master Shamil Abdurakhimov, Lewis came from behind to win by stoppage.
Something’s Not Right
Travis Browne is one of the best strikers in the UFC’s heavyweight division. We saw a lot of that in 2013 when Browne was at his finest, beating Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett in succession and by stoppages. But something’s not right with Hapa lately. His striking has been off as he was dominated by both Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez in his last two bouts. If you take away Browne’s striking, then he is just a mediocre fighter on the ground. Nothing special with his wrestling or grappling skills really.
Even Fight
This is one of those pick’em fights. Lewis is a -137.50 favorite while Browne is a slight +110 underdog. In the UFC’s heavyweight division, one doesn’t really have to be well rounded to win. You just have to have the power. Now both these fighters have that game changing power, just that Lewis may have more. But Travis Browne is the more dynamic striker and the quicker one on his feet. What should play an important factor in this fight is the current streak of each fighter. Brown has lost four of six bouts and has dropped to #9 in the rankings. Lewis meanwhile has won five in a row and has risen one spot above Hapa at #8. We’ll play the streaks here and bank on Lewis’ power. We’re predicting that Derrick Lewis knocks out Travis Browne.
