Though the MMA community is quite transfixed on Saturday’s UFC 206 card, which will feature big names like Anthony Pettis, Max Holloway, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Matt Brown, this is actually not the most immediate UFC card on the calendar.
Before the UFC returns to Toronto for UFC 206, the Octagon will touch down in Albany, New York with a fairly unheralded, but undeniably interesting card.
This card will be headlined by rising heavyweight talent Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis, who will take on a widely unknown opponent in Dagestan’s Shamil Abdurakhimov.
In advance of this compelling heavyweight showdown, the folks over at The Fight Network have compiled a video of Lewis’ top-5 UFC knockouts. You can watch this compilation at the top of this article.
The first of the octagon-shaking knockouts featured in this video occurred at UFC 184, when Lewis punched Ruan Potts into applesauce. The next occurred at UFC 192, when Lewis bludgeoned Viktor Pesta to a third-round TKO. The third went down in Lewis’ sophomore UFC appearance, when he clobbered Carlos Augusto Inocente to a first-round knockout. The fourth occurred in February of this year, when Lewis pounded the dangerous Damien Grabowski to a first-round TKO. The fifth, and arguably most impressive, saw Lewis level dangerous veteran Gabriel Gonzaga back in April.
When we last saw Lewis in action, he failed to earn a knockout, instead scoring a contentious split decision win over Roy Nelson. With this win, he improved his overall record 16-4. His upcoming opponent Abdurakhimov will enter their bout with a 17-3 overall record. After losing his UFC debut against Timothy Johnson, the Russian has rebounded with decision defeats of Anthony Hamilton and Walt Harris.
Other features of the UFC’s Friday trip to Albany include a heavyweight scrap between Francis Ngannou and Anthony Hamilton, a light heavyweight battle between Corey Anderson and Sean O’Connell, and appearances from prospects like Mark Diakiese and Randy Brown.
Who do you think wins in Albany’s main event? Sound off, PENN Nation!