Re-watch Derrick Lewis’ scary knockout win over Curtis Blaydes | UFC Vegas 45

Derrick Lewis will begin his march back to a Heavyweight title shot this Saturday night (Dec. 18, 2021) when he takes on Chris Daukaus in UFC Vegas 45’s main event, which will take place inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Before then, let’s take a trip back in time to see one of “Black Beast’s” numerous highlight-reel knockout victories. Back in February, Lewis faced off against wrestling powerhouse Curtis Blaydes in a five-round, 265-pound tilt in “Sin City.” The stakes were elevated because the winner would go on to earn an interim title fight.

And the beef was very real between the two big men, too.

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HIGH STAKES LIGHTWEIGHT MATCHUP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to UFC APEX on Sat., Sept. 23, 2023, with a high stakes 155-pound showdown as No. 6-ranked contender, Rafael Fiziev, takes on No. 7-seeded Mateusz Gamrot. In UFC Vegas 79’s co-main event, No. 12-ranked Featherweight contender, Bryce Mitchell, steps back into the Octagon against No. 13-seeded Dan Ige.

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Straying from his usual grappling-heavy gameplan, Blaydes opted to stand and trade with his hard-hitting colleague. While he did have some success early on, the plan proved to be a huge mistake because Lewis was able to land a devastating uppercut midway through round two that dropped “Razor.”

Once on the ground, Lewis went on to deliver two massive follow-up shots that were rather unnecessary since Blaydes was already out for the count. Nevertheless, Lewis wanted to leave no doubt and went on to collect his fourth straight win.

“Black Beast” eventually went on to lose to Ciryl Gane via technical knockout at UFC 265, falling short in his bid to win UFC gold for a second time. Against Daukaus, Lewis will face a rising contender who has won all four of his UFC fights via (technical) knockout, three of them in the first round.

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