Derrick Lewis vs. Curtis Blaydes set to headline UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 20

After their first bout was canceled, heavyweight rivals Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes have been rescheduled to a UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 20.

The heavyweight fight, which was originally scheduled for Nov. 28, will headline the UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 20, according to sources. The fight was canceled on Nov. 27 after Blaydes tested positive for COVID-19. Blaydes vs. Lewis could produce the next contender for the UFC heavyweight title after champion Stipe Miocic defends his belt against Francis Ngannou later this year. Blaydes (13-2) has won his past four in a row, while Lewis has won his past three fights.

Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lews has a new date.
The heavyweight fight will headline the UFC fight night event on Feb. 20, according to sources.
It was originally scheduled for Nov. 28 but got canceled the day before after Blaydes tested positive for COVID.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 4, 2021

Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis has a new date. The heavyweight fight will headline the UFC fight night event on Feb. 20, according to sources. It was originally scheduled for Nov. 28 but got canceled the day before after Blaydes tested positive for COVID.

The original plan from the UFC was to rebook the match after Curtis did his two-week quarantine and recovered, but the UFC was not able to make it happen before the end of 2020. Instead, the promotion is now targeting the fight to take place in February 2021.

Blaydes vs Lewis the class of heavyweights

Blaydes and Lewis are veterans of the heavyweight division but have never faced off. Before the first bout, he said the UFC was protecting Lewis from a loss, which brought a shrug from “The Black Beast.”

As a wrestler, Blaydes’ style presents a known threat to Lewis, though the knockout artist has shown surprising skills on the mat in recent fights. Most recently, Lewis managed to avoid Aleksei Oleinik’s submissions and rebound with a quick knockout. Curtis most recently outpointed ex-Bellator champ, Alexander Volkov.

Derrick Lewis is currently on a three-fight winning streak. Last time out, he scored a second-round KO over Alexey Oleynik to become the UFC’s record holder for most knockouts at heavyweight. Before the win over the Russian, “The Black Beast” beat Ilir Latifi and Blagoy Ivanov by decision. The victories got him back into the win column after a TKO loss to Junior dos Santos and a submission loss to Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title.

Curtis Blaydes, meanwhile, is riding a four-fight winning streak. Last time out, he went all five rounds against Alexander Volkov and won the fight by decision. Before that, he picked up TKO wins over dos Santos and Shamil Abdurakhimov and a decision win over Justin Willis. “Razor” has only lost twice in his career, both times coming at the hands of Francis Ngannou.

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