‘The Black Beast’ looks to bounce back from a brutal KO loss.
A heavyweight tilt involving one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster is on deck for the summer.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reports that knockout artist Derrick Lewis and Russia’ Sergei Pavlovich are targeted for UFC 277 on July 30th. The latest UFC rankings have Lewis at #5 and Pavlovich at #11.
Lewis (26-9, 1 NC) is coming off a brutal elbow KO loss to Tai Tuivasa in their UFC 271 co-main event in Houston. ‘The Black Beast’ fought for the interim heavyweight title last year against Ciryl Gane (also in Houston), losing by third-round TKO. In between those two defeats was an emphatic opening round thrashing of Chris Daukaus in the UFC’s final main event of 2021.
Pavlovich (15-1) came into the UFC as an undefeated champion from Fight Nights Global. He was thrust into the spotlight immediately with a debut against Alistair Overeem, who stopped him with ground strikes in the opening round back at UFC Beijing in 2018. The 29-year-old recovered with knockouts of Marcelo Golm and Maurice Greene, but had several fights cancelled for a variety of reasons over the following two years. He returned at UFC London last March and stopped Shamil Abdurakhimov to extend his win streak to three.
No venue or main event has been linked to UFC 277.