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A rare Monday (AEDT) UFC event brings with it two bouts that have peaked interest with UFC fans around the globe.
Originally scheduled for a heavyweight rematch between Junior Dos Santos and Stefan Struve, injury to Struve forced a reshuffle to the event with Derrick ‘Black Beast’ Lewis facing Travis ‘Hapa’ Browne in the main event.
Lewis (17-4, 8-2 UFC) is the number eight ranked heavyweight contender and is forcing his way up the top ten on the back of a five-fight win streak. The heavy handed ‘Black Beast’ has been earning a name for himself with victories over veterans Gabriel Gonzaga and Roy Nelson and most recently against Shamir Abdurakhimov in his first UFC main event.
This fight against Travis Browne will be Lewis’ most high profile bout yet and against the most dangerous opponent he has faced in his career. A victory over Browne will propel Lewis into the upper echelon of contenders and closer to a title shot as a fresh-faced contender in a division in need of fresh star power.
Browne (18-5-1, 9-5 UFC), once one of the top contenders in the division, is currently on a two-fight skid and in desperate need of a victory to remain in the hunt for a title shot in the near future. In fairness, his last two losses have been to recent former heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, but a third loss in a row could spell the end of Travis Browne as a title contender for quite some time.
An interesting note in the lead up to this fight for Browne is that he has been photographed training at the Black House gym, home to fellow UFC fighters Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida. Browne has stated that Edmond Tarverdyan, also head coach of Browne’s partner Ronda Rousey, will still head his corner, but his training elsewhere is still an interesting development given the criticism Browne has received since basing himself out of Tarverdyan’s Glendale Boxing Club.
Since moving to train under the guidance of Tarverdyan, ‘Hapa’ has won only two of five bouts and has appeared to have stagnated in the quality of his performances. He will need to be at his best to counter the wild, powerful brawling style of Derrick Lewis.
Browne will have to utilise his diverse striking and fluid movement to overcome Lewis and the longer the fight goes, the better for Browne as Lewis tends to get even wilder as the rounds progress and will open himself up in the stand up.
Prediction: Browne via decision
The co-main event will feature an interesting match-up with former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks making his middleweight debut against dangerous judoka Hector Lombard.
After several weight cut failures and poor results, Hendricks moves up to the 185-pound division in desperate need of a victory. ‘Big Rig’ is currently on a 0-3 run with only one victory in his last five UFC bouts.
In his run up the welterweight ladder, Hendricks had built up a reputation as a knockout artist scoring one punch knockouts and brutalising opponents on the feet while utilising his NCAA Division 1 amateur wrestling skills to impose his will on opponents. However, he has not scored a stoppage victory over an opponent since 2012 and has relied increasingly on his wrestling background in attempts to secure victory which has, to some observers, seen him punished by judges for perceived inactivity.
Hector Lombard has also endured the worst run of his long career, winless in his last three having been stopped by Dan Henderson and Neil Magny (at welterweight) and having his victory over Josh Burkman overturned to a no contest.
The Cuban-Australian has recently made the jump from welterweight back up to middleweight, but was stopped in his first fight back at 185 pounds and is in desperate need of a victory to retain his job with the UFC. Lombard came over to the UFC with a big reputation as the Bellator middleweight champion, but has failed to live up to the hype and this bout could very well be do or die for not only Lombard, but Hendricks also.
How Hendricks performs at middleweight will be interesting to see, but it must be noted that his first bout at a larger weight class is a somewhat favourable one as it is against an undersized middleweight. If he can survive Lombard’s early explosive threat he should be able to outlast Lombard with his busier and more varied output on the feet.
Prediction: Hendricks via decision
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