Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. It wouldn’t be an Ultimate Fighting Championship card in Houston
these days without the inclusion of the great Derrick
Lewis. Lewis (26-8, 1 NC) will be back in action less than two months
after his last victory when he takes on fellow heavy-handed brawler
Tai
Tuivasa (13-3) at
UFC 271. The news first came from
MMA Junkie on Friday, reporting that the two big men will throw
down on Feb. 12 inside the Toyota Center in Houston.
Other outlets confirmed this booking shortly after its
announcement.
“The Black Beast” came back after an unsuccessful effort to vie for
the interim strap against Ciryl Gane
by shellacking Chris
Daukaus in the first round in December. That knockout for the
Houstonian put him on top of the list for the most knockouts in UFC
history, breaking a tie held by Vitor
Belfort and Matt Brown.
Over the years, Lewis has beaten the likes of Francis
Ngannou, Alexander
Volkov, Curtis
Blaydes and Roy Nelson to
name a few. He will come into this three-round affair with an 85%
finish rate.
Australia’s Tuivasa has been fairly streaky since joining the
promotion in 2017, rattling off a trio of wins before coming up
short three times in a row. Since 2020, Tuivasa has won all four of
his appearances by knockout within 5:26. His current run has seen
him lay waste to Augusto
Sakai, Greg Hardy
and Stefan
Struve on his way up the rankings. “Bam Bam” trumps Lewis’
career finish rate with his own at 92%, and unlike Lewis, he has
never won by submission. While Tuivasa has less than half (six) of
Lewis’ record number of knockouts in the Octagon, the 28-year-old
has time on his side and a skillset that could possibly reach that
remarkable tally in the coming years.
UFC 271 will go down on Feb. 12 in Houston’s Toyota Center, with
fans in attendance to see the headliner of Israel
Adesanya vs. Robert
Whittaker in a rematch for middleweight gold. It is currently
unclear if Lewis-Tuivasa will serve in the co-main event slot, or
if Jared
Cannonier’s battle with Derek
Brunson at 185 pounds retain its co-headlining slot.
