Huge Heavyweight Fight Announced! Derrick Lewis Returns on February 20th

The heavyweight division is at an extremely interesting place right now. Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou are set to take on each other early this year while Jon Jones is preparing for a move up to heavyweight. Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis wait patiently in the ranks as well. 

‘The Black Beast’ was set to take on ‘Razor’ in November last year. However, a positive COVID-19 test ruled Blaydes out of the bout against Lewis. Blaydes and Lewis are on a four and three-fight win streak, respectively. 

A win for either fighter would put him in an excellent position to challenge for the UFC title in the not too distant future. 

Read: Chael Sonnen says Curtis Blaydes will never get the Jon Jones fight in his UFC career

Derrick Lewis vs Curtis Blaydes will have massive implications on the title picture at heavyweight

Ariel Helwani of ESPN recently tweeted, “Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lews has a new date. The heavyweight fight will headline the UFC fight night event on Feb. 20, according to sources. It was originally scheduled for Nov. 28 but got canceled the day before after Blaydes tested positive for COVID.”

Lewis is a man reinvigorated after his failed attempt at a title shot. After his loss to Daniel Cormier at UFC 230, Lewis succumbed to another loss against Junior dos Santos. 

He then bounced back with a win over Blagoy Ivanov and is currently 3-0 in the UFC with his most recent win coming via TKO against Alexey Oleynik. This made him the record holder for the most knockout wins in the UFC in the heavyweight division. 

Blaydes, on the other hand, is 4-0 in his last four fights and has secured two of these wins via stoppage. He has looked extremely impressive in all four fights. 

The winner of this fight will be in an awkward position. If Jon Jones chooses to fight for the title directly and not take a tune-up fight, the winner of Lewis vs Blaydes will have to wait for a while before a title shot. 

On the other hand, if Jon chooses to take a tuneup fight at heavyweight, it will most likely be against the winner of Derrick and Curtis.