Derrick Lewis vs Ilir Latifi heavyweight bangfest on tap for Feb. 8

You know the old saying about being careful what you wish for.

Former light heavyweight contender Ilir Latifi, previously ranked in the Top 5 at 205 pounds, will try his luck at heavyweight after back-to-back losses against Volkan Oezdemir and Corey Anderson, the former of which ended by way of knockout.

His first assignment?

None other than heavyweight power puncher and No. 5-ranked contender Derrick Lewis, a fan-friendly but otherwise odd pairing for the promotion’s upcoming event on Feb. 8, according to ESPN, at a city and venue to be named.

Lewis (22-7, 1 NC) rebounded from consecutive losses against Daniel Cormier and Junior dos Santos to score a hard-fought split-decision win over Blagoy Ivanov at the UFC 244 pay-per-view (PPV) event earlier this month in New York City.

Beating Latifi (14-7, 1 NC), who holds 10 finishes in 14 wins, doesn’t do a whole lot for his place in the heavyweight title hunt, but I don’t think anyone will care — even Lewis — so long as this fight provides the fireworks we all think it can.

We’ll find out in just over two months.