UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Browne will air on February 19, 2017, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
#8 DERRICK “THE BLACK BEAST” LEWIS (17-4-0, 1 NC) VS. #9 TRAVIS “HAPA” BROWNE (18-5-1)
This is a five round main event in the heavyweight division. Lewis brings boxing giving him intense knockout power. Browne brings boxing, Muay Thai, judo, jiu-jitsu and wrestling giving him top knockout power. Another fight with knockout strikers, but with his career on an up rise Lewis looks to take this fight with ease as his striking has improved greatly where Browne has been a little sloppy in his past few bouts, which I believe will show in this fight as well. Though if Browne was able to bring the fight down to the ground I could easily see him walking away with the win. But Lewis will be laying the pressure on him at the same time to keep the fight on their feet at all cost. My prediction: Lewis wins via knockout in Round 2.
#10 (WW) JOHNY “BIG RIGG” HENDRICKS (17-6-0) VS. HECTOR “SHOWEATER” LOMBARD (34-6-1, 2 NC)
This is a three round co-main event in the middleweight division. Hendricks brings boxing, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling giving him knockout power and grappling control that lead him to become a former welterweight champion. Lombard brings kickboxing, judo and jiu-jitsu making him a deadly striker with 19 wins via knockout. In this fight, both fighters have great striking combination, but if the fight is to turn into an all out boxing style matchup Lombard looks to have the advantage as he has kept his body more healthy throughout his career thus making his striking deadlier than Hendricks. Unless Hendricks could somehow use his wrestling and turn the fight into a ground-and-pound fight where Lombard lacks the fight might be an easy one-sided beat down with no meaning to either fighter. My prediction: Lombard wins via TKO in Round 2.
SAM SICILIA (15-7-0) VS. GAVIN TUCKER (9-0-0)
This is a three round fight in the featherweight division. Sicilia brings striking, jiu-jitsu and wrestling giving him knockout power and grappling control. Tucker brings striking and grappling giving him a perfect record. Though Sicilia looks to have more grappling techniques than Tucker I don’t believe he will be able to stand up to his striking that has helped him remain undefeated. The only way I see Sicilia standing much of a chance is to get the fight to the ground and use his jiu-jitsu and wrestling to the fullest, but Tucker possesses great takedown defense and that for sure I believe will be too much for him to overcome. My prediction: Tucker wins via TKO in Round 3.
ELIAS “THE SPARTAN” THEODOROU (11-1-0) VS. CEZAR “MUTANTE” FERREIRA (11-5-0)
This is a three round fight in the middleweight division. Theodorou brings kickboxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and wrestling giving him knockout power along with grappling control and cardio. Ferreira brings boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling giving him knockout power, grappling control and cardio. As these two fighters contain almost identical style the advantage can go to either, but I believe Theodorou’s striking and cardio is just a little better than that of Ferreira giving him a big advantage. Though Ferreira does have great grappling that he could use to pressure Theodorou, but unless he can see past his takedown defense I really don’t see him standing much of a chance. My prediction: Theodorou wins via knockout in Round 2.
#7 SARA MCMANN (10-3-0) VS. GINA MAZANY (4-0-0)
This is a three round fight in the women’s bantamweight division. McMann brings striking and wrestling giving her great grappling control and cardio. Mazany brings boxing and jiu-jitsu giving her knockout power and grappling control. This fight looks to be an even matchup, but in reality, I believe McMann’s grappling and ground-and-pound are more accurate than Mazany. Though if Mazany could possibly keep the fight on their feet and wear down McMann she could possibly use her boxing more efficiently to score enough points to catch the decision win. But McMann will be laying pressure on Mazany and if she cannot overcome the pressure McMann will surely make Mazany feel the hurt tomorrow. My prediction: McMann wins via unanimous decision.
PAUL “THE IRISH DRAGON” FELDER (12-3-0) VS. ALESSANDRO RICCI (10-4-0)
This is a three round fight in the lightweight division. Felder brings Muay Thai, karate, taekwondo and jiu-jitsu giving him knockout power with grappling control and cardio. Ricci brings kickboxing and Muay Thai giving him knockout power. With both fighters containing striking power looks to make the fight even, but when it comes to grappling Felder contains much more with his jiu-jitsu where Ricci looks to be almost all striking. The way I see it the fight looks to be one-sided for Felder unless Ricci could keep the fight on their feet and try to out strike Felder, but that might be too much for him to handle as Felder I believe has much better striking giving Ricci almost no chance in this fight. My prediction: Felder wins via TKO in Round 2.
