Derrick Lewis Looks to End Losing Run Against Unranked Heavyweight at UFC 291

"The Black Beast" is set to defend his heavyweight ranking against a rising contender.

Author:
Drew Beaupré
Publish date:
May 17, 2023 1:24 PM EDT

Derrick Lewis will try to snap his current losing streak when he meets Marcos Rogério de Lima in a heavyweight bout at UFC 291 on July 29.

The UFC traditionally tries to book some significant fights for the summer months, and UFC 291 has quickly turned into what could turn out to be the promotion’s biggest event of the year. Dana White recently revealed the sensational main card for the event that includes a BMF title fight between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, Alex Pereira’s light heavyweight debut against Jan Błachowicz, and several other bouts featuring top-ranked fighters.

It appears that the UFC is already hard at work trying to stack the event’s undercard as well, with “The Black Beast” now set to defend his heavyweight ranking in a matchup with de Lima.

Lewis is currently experiencing the most difficult run of his career after suffering three-straight stoppage losses to top heavyweight competition. The fan favorite is just over two years removed from a four-fight win streak that led to him fighting Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 265, but the 38-year-old only has one victory since then and was submitted by Serghei Spivac earlier this year.

De Lima joined the UFC as a light heavyweight after competing on Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, but “Pezão” has experienced his best success since committing to the heavyweight division in 2018. The Brazilian is 4-1 across his last five fights including back-to-back wins in his most recent outings, and a win over Lewis would almost certainly see de Lima crack the heavyweight top 15 rankings.

This year has already seen quite a few changes occur in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Francis Ngannou’s exit from the promotion in January left the division’s title vacant before Jon Jones claimed it at UFC 285, and Ngannou recently made headlines by announcing that he'd chosen to sign with the PFL.

The weight class also includes a number of rising contenders for the first time in several years, including the now #9-ranked Jailton Almeida who earned his fifth submission in as many UFC bouts at last weekend’s UFC Charlotte.

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