With Curtis Blaydes having withdrawn from his bout with Jailton Almeida, Derrick Lewis, the UFC’s knockout king, will fill the void on November 4th at UFC Fight Night 221.
Will the action set to go down from the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in São Paulo, Brazil, Lewis (27-11) will be entering the Octagon for the first time since his shocking flying knee victory over Marcos Rogério de Lima at UFC 291 in July. Preceding his most recent bout, Lewis found himself on a bit of a skid, losing three straight against Tai Tuivasa, Sergei Pavlovich, and Serghei Spivac.
Derrick Lewis will replace Curtis Blaydes in a heavyweight main event against Jailton Almeida on Nov. 4 in São Paulo, Brazil, sources confirmed with @bokamotoESPN. pic.twitter.com/xlmE7HJor4
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 9, 2023
Brazilian heavyweight Almeida (19-2) is most recently coming off a first round rear naked choke victory over the always dangerous Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Additionally, he is currently undefeated in the UFC thus far, achieving 5 victories since his promotional debut in 2022. Almeida earned his shot to compete in the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, where he secured an impressive submission victory.
On the ground, Almeida will have a considerable advantage given his grappling experience and ability to hunt for submissions. Conversely, if things stay on the feet, there is always the chance of Lewis connecting with the powerful shots he has come to be known for.
UFC Fight Night 221 Full Card:
- Jailton Almeida vs. Derrick Lewis
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Nicolas Dalby
- Don’Tale Mayes vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
- Armen Petrosyan vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Ismael Bonfim vs. Vinc Pichel
- Caio Borralho vs. Abus Magomedov
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Vitor Petrino
- Elves Brenner vs. Esteban Ribovics
- Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Elizeu Zaleski
- Denise Gomes vs. Angela Hill
- Eduarda Moura vs. Montserrat Ruiz
- Lucas Alexander vs. David Onama
- Marc Diakiese vs. Kaue Fernandes