Can Derrick Lewis Destroy Francis Ngannou in a Five Round Fight?

After going through some adversity in the first round, UFC heavyweight Derrick Lewis pulled off an impressive knockout win over Alexei Oleinik. The “Black Beast” is now the record holder for the most knockout wins in UFC heavyweight history. He has more KOs than Francis Ngannou, who is a knockout artist himself. But can Lewis decimate Francis like Alexei? Can he prey upon the “Predator?”

Derrick Lewis, 24-7-1, is one of the most likable characters in the UFC and also the most dangerous knockout artist. He kicked off his UFC career in 2014 and has been knocking out contenders since. Although he has lost a few fights, none of them significantly hurt his resume. Unlike most KO artists, Lewis does not chase the knockout. He picks his shots and waits for an opening. As of now, he is on a three-fight win streak.

After defeating Oleinik less than 24 hours ago, the American fighter said that he would like to return to the cage late this year. He stated that he won’t return until he drops a significant amount of weight. Many people, including Lewis himself, believe that Curtis Blaydes might be his next opponent.

However, critics would like to see Lewis fight his former opponent Francis Ngannou again. Although this bout might not take place soon, it would be exciting to watch these two go at it in a rematch.

Francis Ngannou vs Derrick Lewis 2: Who wins?

Surprisingly, Lewis vs Ngannou was uneventful. The fight did not live up to its hype and probably put many people to sleep. Lewis claimed that he could not move much because of his back problems whereas some believe that Francis carried the fear from his last fight — against Stipe Miocic — into this one. The “Predator” did not give any excuses and apologized for his poor performance post-fight.

There were others who felt that both men feared each other’s knockout power so much that neither of them committed with anything. This phenomenon is quite common in MMA. Overall, both fighters landed 31 combined significant strikes. Francis landed only 11 significant strikes.

Nevertheless, things have changed since then. Francis seemed to have recovered from the psychological impact and is on a four-fight win streak. Lewis, on the other hand, fought five times and lost two of them. Both men have expressed their desire to fight each other again. The has the possibility of yielding a different outcome.

Primarily, both men are strikers. But Francis Ngannou is the better striker. He has much better boxing and leg kicks than Lewis. If he can land a clean punch on Lewis, there is no recovering from that. Lewis also has similar knockout power, but he will find it difficult to match the speed of Ngannou.

Lewis can try to take Ngannou to the ground, but the Cameroonian-French’s takedown defense will be a problem. Ngannou has a takedown defense of 71%. Trying to muscle Ngannou to the ground will be ineffective, and it will gas out the American. Unless Ngannou approaches the rematch like the first fight, it will be very difficult for Lewis to get anything going.

Ideally, Francis Ngannou should defeat Derrick Lewis decisively. This fight will not go five rounds. If it does, the later rounds will be uneventful.

What do you think? Can Derrick Lewis decimate Francis Ngannou?

Sources: ESPN, UFC Stats