Can ‘The Black Beast’ Turn Back Another Challenger?
Derrick Lewis is a fan favorite for his charismatic personality and ferocious knockout power. Now at 40 years old, he makes his first appearance of 2025 in the main event, as he takes on a young rising prospect in the Heavyweight Division. At 25 years old, Tallison Teixeira looks to make a major statement and put the Heavyweight Division on notice by taking out one of its most prominent contenders. Can ‘The Black Beast’ add another highlight reel knockout to his legendary resume, or will the young rookie show him that age catches up to everyone eventually?
Derrick Lewis has never been the most talented heavyweight in the division at any point, but his one-shot knockout power has allowed him the opportunity to win any matchup. After losing his chance to win the Interim Heavyweight Championship to Ciryl Gane in 2021, he proceeded to lose three of his next four fights. Many assumed that his career would be over. However, after his ridiculous knockout performance against Marcos Rogerio de Lima, where he started the fight throwing a running flying knee, Lewis showed he still has something left in the tank. In the upcoming fight, Lewis will have his chances with this being a strictly standup matchup. The level of competition Lewis has faced will give him a significant advantage in this fight. Every one of Teixeira’s fights has ended in the first round, so if Lewis can survive, we will see if he can wear on his gas tank and eventually be able to get him out of there. The first round is going to be chaotic, but there’s no one better at counter-striking than ‘The Black Beast’. If he can keep his guard high and have most of the power shots hitting his arms early on, it will give him an opening to land his power shot that could deter Tallison from entering with no regard. In a matchup like this, it only takes one shot; it’s all going to be about experience and timing, and I would personally give those two skills to Lewis.
Tallison Teixeira, in his debut match, was able to put away Justin Tafa with a devastating elbow in the clinch that flatlined him just 35 seconds into the fight. An amazing performance, but we didn’t get to see any of his true skill set. We did see his incredible power and how light he moves on his feet. His ability to throw kicks with such ferocity gives him a much more diverse striking attack than most heavyweights. His six-foot-seven frame gives him a large reach over most of his competitors. Keeping his opponents at a distance gives him the advantage of landing big shots while being able to back out of range of anything coming back in his direction. Being undefeated and finishing all your opponents in the first round gives you an aura of invincibility. He will have the utmost confidence coming into this fight, and he may walk right through Lewis if he can hit him with something big early on. I feel like if he lands a big right or kick in the first minute, Lewis might lose confidence and start to wither away, before eventually breaking.
This is going to be a hard-hitting scrap that isn’t going to last long. This fight could end at any moment, so you don’t want to miss a second of the action. With Jon Jones recently deciding to retire and Tom Aspinall becoming the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion, he will be looking for new challengers and opportunities, so both of these fighters could move their way into contention with an impressive knockout victory. All the action goes down this Saturday, July 12th, for UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Teixeira with a main card start time of 9:00 p.m. EST.
