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#4 vs. Marcin Tybura – UFC Fight Night 126 – 02/18/2018
By late 2017 – despite a loss to Mark Hunt – it was clear that Lewis was somehow a legitimate contender at Heavyweight, and so the UFC matched him with former champion Fabricio Werdum.
Unfortunately, a back injury forced Lewis out of the fight and seemed to curtail his career somewhat.
When he made his return at Fight Night 126 in February, he was faced with fellow up-and-comer Marcin Tybura – and nobody was really sure quite what he’d have left in his arsenal after such a serious injury setback.
Thankfully, the Black Beast proved that he hadn’t changed one single bit during his time away.
The punching power was still there – he dropped Tybura in the opening round – but the questionable ground game and gas tank still hung over him too, and he couldn’t capitalise when he hurt the Polish fighter and ended up being largely dominated on the ground in the second round, giving up what looked likely to be a 10-8 on the scorecards.
By the time the third round came around, Lewis was sucking in enough wind to deprive the front row of oxygen.
But once again, his punching power proved to be the ultimate equaliser. Tybura looked tired too and couldn’t secure a takedown, and halfway through the round, Lewis surprised him with a throw.
As Tybura stood, Lewis spotted an opening and pounced – and a vicious flurry and some follow-up hammer fists were enough to seal the deal.
And if his fighting style hadn’t changed, nor had his personality. In the post-fight interview, Lewis once again went on an entertaining rant – before promising to “go deep” with his wife later that night. The fight affirmed one thing – in terms of entertainment value, you couldn’t overlook the Black Beast.
