Derrick Lewis Will Reportedly Welcome Ilir Latifi To Heavyweight
Ilir Latifi will be making the jump up to the UFC’s heavyweight division, and he’ll be welcomed in by none other than “The Black Beast” Derrick Lewis.
ESPN reports that the Las Vegas-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion is finalizing a bout between Latifi and Lewis for February 8. The card currently has no official location or venue as of this writing. It is rumored, however, that Houston, Texas is the rumored location for the card – which is Lewis’ hometown.
The 34-year-old Lewis comes off of a decision win over Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 244. It was his first fight back after knee surgery. The former UFC heavyweight title challenger is 1-1 in his last two fights since suffering a submission loss in his failed title bid against Daniel Cormier.
As for Latifi, he is on a two-fight losing streak after losses to both Corey Anderson and Volkan Oezdemir. The latter resulted in a knockout loss in the second round of their UFC Uruguay meeting. Now, Latifi will step into the Octagon with one of the UFC’s most beloved knockout artists.
It will be interesting to see how Latifi fares in the heavyweight division. Especially against an opponent of Lewis’ caliber.
What do you think about a matchup between Lewis and Latifi?
