The UFC takes the show on the road again for its fight night card as the promotion heads to St. Louis for a heavyweight fight as fan favorite Derrick Lewis returns to take on Rodrigo Nascimento. Ahead of the fight, we take a closer look at how much Derrick Lewis and his opponent stand to make for headlining a stacked card.
Lewis is one of the highest-paid heavyweights of all time thanks to his activity in the ring. ‘The Black Beast’ fights at least twice a year and has on more than one occasion competed thrice in a calendar year. The fight against Nascimento will be his first fight of the year as he aims to get back into the win column.
In his most recent outing, Lewis had succumbed to a unanimous decision loss against Jailton Almeida. For his efforts against Almeida, Lewis reportedly earned around $270,000.
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But ‘The Black Beast’ will be headlining a card with fans in attendance and not at the Apex this time. So, it will be safe to assume that his purse for the fight against Nascimento will be higher than $270,000. But that is nothing compared to the purse he allegedly earned for the Cyril Gane fight.
When he fought Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title, Lewis reportedly earned close to a million dollars for his efforts.
Unfortunately at this point in time, there is no information available about the purse for Lewis’ opponent. However, given that he will be headlining the card alongside Lewis it will be safe to assume that it will be one of his biggest paydays as well.
Now that the money talk is behind us, let’s take a look at how Lewis and Nascimento could play out in the octagon.
A closer look at Derrick Lewis vs Rodrigo Nascimento
Lewis and Nascimento are ranked 12th and 15th respectively in the UFC’s heavyweight division. ‘The Black Beast’ is currently in a bit of a slump and has lost four of his last five fights. So, he will be aiming to get back into the win column and hopefully get back into title contention soon.
His opponent on the other hand is on a three-fight win streak and is 11-1-0 in his UFC career. And while he will give up one inch in height for one inch in reach against Lewis, we have seen in the past that with enough skills, certain physical advantages don’t matter at the highest level.
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‘The Black Beast’ is a knockout artist and has won 80% of his fights via knockouts. His opponent on the other hand has secured 60% of his wins via submissions. Therefore, Lewis will have to use his 53% takedown defense in order to keep the fight on the feet for his best shot at a win.
Or maybe, we’ll just see another flying knee. Maybe Lewis will channel his inner WWE superstar during the fight and deliver something crazy. Imagine Lewis winning by an RKO!
