A heavyweight showdown between Derrick ‘The Black Beast’ Lewis and Shamil Abdurakhimov will headline UFC Fight Night 102 in Albany, New York on December 9th.
Lewis had previous been scheduled to fight Marcin Tybura in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 97 in Manila this past weekend, but after main event star BJ Penn pulled out of his fight with Ricardo Lamas due to an injury, the entire card was scrapped.
Lewis has been making a name for himself in the UFC’s heavyweight division over the course of the past year, racking up four wins in a row.
Along the way he’s taken out Viktor Pesta, Damian Grabowski and Gabe Gonzaga by either KO or TKO, and then most recently claimed his biggest win to date by earning a split decision victory over Roy Nelson.
Now the No.10 ranked contender will go up against Abdurakhimov, who is coming off back-to-back wins in the division against Anthony Hamilton and Walt Harris.
Given that he’s been going up against more established fighters recently, this could be seen as a step down for Lewis, but nonetheless, it’s a chance for the 31 year-old to headline an event for the first time in his UFC career.
