The UFC is all geared up to witness another legend in the making as Brazilian fighter Jhonata Diniz gears up to go one-on-one against Derrick Lewis on UFC Fight Night this weekend. Diniz is a combat sports veteran. However, he is still a newcomer to MMA. The Brazilian started his quest to pursue sports in 2022. He won the UFC contract after a first-round finish on Season 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series, and in his UFC debut back in April, Diniz defeated Austen Lane through a second-round stoppage.

Diniz continued his stellar run in the UFC after the 33-year-old dominated Karl Williams, winning the fight by unanimous decision. The fearless athlete ignored his underdog status in the duel against the American Williams and successfully prevented him from using wrestling skills, thus taking away his unbeaten record in the UFC.

So now Diniz remains undefeated in MMA, and as a result, the striking specialist aims to propel himself into the upper echelons of the UFC. He aims to do this by proving himself against the man with the most knockout wins in UFC history. However, for the unaware, Diniz has a secret weapon. And what’s the weapon you may ask? Well, the weapon in his arsenal is his years of kickboxing experience. Before switching to MMA, the Brazilian was a seasoned kickboxer with an impressive record and quite a skill set. So would he be able to defeat Derrick Lewis using his secret weapon? Let’s analyze it by finding out all about his fight style, statistics, and record.

Jhonata Diniz Kickboxing Record, Losses & Career Overview

A truly skilled striker, he uses his years of kickboxing experience to decimate his opponents, irrespective of their experience in the sport. In fact, he delivered brutal kicks that are often not seen in the bouts of his peers in the heavyweight division. However, the one area where he falls weak is when it comes to takedowns. So far in his fight in the UFC, Jhonota Diniz completely relied on his striking skills and landed zero takedowns. This can prove to be problematic as he moves further in the rankings and faces grappling greats in the division. Although it won’t be easy to take him down since he is a huge fighter that stands tall at 6’4″ and weighs 254 lbs.

During his kickboxing days, Diniz secured fifteen wins with just six losses. His stint in Glory MMA ended with just three wins compared to four defeats. However, since then he has improved his striking accuracy, as back then it stood at just 44.03% compared to 53% now. But it seems like Diniz is focusing on being more accurate now since his SLpM (Significant Strikes Landed per Minute) rate has seen a significant drop. Earlier it was 7.87 in Glory kickboxing, but now it has fallen down to 4.09.

After Glory Kickboxing, he had a stint in ACB Kickboxing as well as the Superkombat universe. But his crowning achievement came when he won the Tatneft Cup by finishing his fight against Valeriy Bizyaev in the very first round via a left hook knockout. This inspired him to now move to MMA full-time, soon joining the UFC to fight among the big names. And with such vast experience and skill sets, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in the title picture sometime soon. What do you think? He will be able to defeat Derrick Lewis? Let us know in the comments.