UFC Fight Night: Heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Travis Browne battle to climb the rankings

Heavy hitters collide this weekend as two of the biggest athletes on the UFC roster go head to head, in an attempt to climb further up the top 10 rankings. Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis sits one place above his opponent, Travis “Hapa” Browne, at number eight and nine respectively. Riding an impressive five-fight win streak, Lewis has been a wrecking ball in the heavyweight division. Of his 17 career victories, 15 men fell at the powerful hands of this monstrous prospect.

Browne is no stranger to big punchers though, and has dropped 14 opponents in his 18 successful outings. Both athletes are clearly devastating on the feet so if we see any wrestling in this bout, its likely to be the first fighter that gets rocked with a big punch.

Lewis has looked like a short straw in the division, and the call from the UFC matchmakers that most contenders wouldn’t want to take. He is without a doubt one of the scariest individuals that Browne could have been matched up against. Tipping the scales at the heavyweight limit of 265lbs, Lewis will likely be the heavier of the two, but Browne, as usual in his fights, will enjoy a four inch advantage in height.

It’s probably fair to say that Browne is the more agile fighter. If he can use the space in the Octagon to his advantage, establish a good jab and keep Lewis walking into punches he will at least slow him down, if he doesn’t land with anything powerful enough to put him away. This will make him more vulnerable in the later rounds and we have to keep in mind that this is a five round fight.

We have seen Lewis fight into the fourth round in his last bout against Shamil Abdurakhimov in December but he got the finish before reaching the fifth. Browne battled for five rounds against Fabricio Werdum in a title eliminator back in April 2014, but was unable to get the nod from the judges. He at least knows what it takes to compete over 25 minutes and this will aid his preparations immensely.

Also, if we look down their records, although Browne hasn’t enjoyed as much success in his recent fights, he has certainly faced stiffer opposition. The highest profile athlete on Lewis’ record is last summer’s close fought decision win over Roy Nelson, a fight many scored the opposite way based on Nelson’s takedowns.

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Browne has wins over great fighters and heavyweight legends Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett, stopping both fighters in 2013 with techniques that we seldom see in the Octagon. Barnett was knocked out by a series of elbows, similar to the barrage that put Gonzaga to sleep earlier that same year. Overeem was leading comfortably and as Browne backed up on shaky legs, he threw a perfect front kick to the face and the Dutch kickboxing champion fell at the Hawaiian’s feet. These three ‘Knockout of the Night’ performances lead to the title eliminator against Werdum and another step up in competition. Restless in his training camps, Browne would move around in search of different coaching, and the lack of consistency in the gym lead to inconsistent performances.

Having already stepped up to the top of the division Browne already knows what’s required if he is to reach the title. Before he can consider himself worthy of a top five position though, he has to subdue the rising terror that is Derrick Lewis. With big power in both hands, Lewis will only have the knockout on his mind. He will have seen Browne rocked and tired.

He will surely think that if his opponent leaves himself as vulnerable as he was at times in the Overeem fight, Lewis will put him away. Now sitting inside the top 10, it doesn’t take much for a fighter with spectacular stopping ability to be thrust into the title picture. This may be that fight for Lewis, unless Browne can muster the strength for another attempt at UFC gold himself.

In the co-main event Olympic level Judo is pit against NCAA Division 1 wrestling, and there is plenty of punching power to boot. Johny Hendricks was once the UFC welterweight champion. He blasted his way through the welterweight division and found himself on the wrong end of a split decision loss to Georges St Pierre in his first title fight at UFC 167. After that GSP vacated the belt to take some time away from competition and the vacant belt was contested between Hendricks and other top contender, Robbie Lawler, at UFC 171 in March 2014. Hendricks won their first fight, but then lost the belt in their rematch nine months later. He then went on to win one in his next four, missing weight twice.

It looked like Hendricks had reached the top of the mountain and then tumbled right down the other side. He now finds himself at a turning point in his career and moving up to middleweight may negate many of his issues. If he struggled with the welterweight limit, we don’t know if he has ever been performing at his best. His wrestling credentials are unquestionable, and his knockouts have proven that his straight left has enough power to put anyone on the canvas, even at middleweight I would expect. Hector Lombard will be the perfect test at this new weight class and will let us know if he is still capable of UFC quality performances.

One of the smaller middleweights, Lombard has recently dabbled at welterweight, but his short, heavily muscled frame simply looks too dense for the 170lb limit. Stubborn in his fighting style, Lombard looks like a brick wall every time someone steps in to clinch him. His calm stalking approach is often unnerving for many and causes them to throw out of panic, exposing themselves to the power-punching that has claimed more than half of his 34 professional victories. This is an intriguing match-up of styles and one that will reignite one career, whilst sending the other sliding further into obscurity.

Watch UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Browne, live on BT Sport 2 from midnight GMT on Sunday February 19th, or watch the Early Prelims exclusively on UFC Fight Pass from 11:30pm GMT