Derrick Lewis set to face top-15 ranked threat in UFC St. Louis headliner

Six months after stepping in on short notice against Jailton Almeida, Derrick Lewis will be returning to the octagon against another grappling-heavy opponent.

As first reported by journalist Marcel Dorff, Lewis will headline the May 11 Fight Night card against no. 15-ranked contender Rodrigo Nascimento. The card has already been announced to occur in St. Louis, Missouri, marking the UFC's first event in the state since UFC Kansas City headlined by Max Holloway and Arnold Allen in April 2023.

Lewis, 39, has just one win in his last four fights, a 33-second flying knee knockout of Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC 291. Since facing Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title in 2021, 'The Black Beast' has gone just 2-4 with three losses by finish.

Nascimento is currently on a three-fight win streak, last beating Don'Tale Mayes on the main card of the UFC São Paulo card headlined by Lewis and Almeida. Nascimento is 4-1 with one no-contest in the UFC overall but has yet to face an opponent ranked in the UFC.

Now 11-1 with one no-contest as a professional at 31 years old, Nascimento will fight in his first UFC main event. Contrarily, Lewis will enter his 12th main event and third in his last four fights.

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Derrick Lewis' next fight: Who has Rodrigo Nascimento beaten in the UFC?

In a shallow heavyweight division, Rodrigo Nascimento has found himself as a ranked fighter after just four official wins in the UFC entering a five-round main event matchup with Derrick Lewis.

Debuting in the UFC in 2020 after a win on Dana White's Contender Series, Nascimento has submitted six opponents of his 11 professional wins including his Octagon debut against Don'Tale Mayes. 'Ze Colmeia' would suffer his first loss to Chris Daukaus in his second outing but rebound with a TKO win over Alan Baudot that has since been overturned due to a positive drug test.

Nascimento would collect consecutive split decision wins over Tanner Boser and Ilir Latifi before rematching Mayes, picking up another win to compile a three-fight win streak.

As one of the largest heavyweights in the UFC, Nascimento has shown his preference to wrestle opponents, providing a potentially challenging style matchup for Lewis. Per UFC stats, Lewis has given up a combined 12 takedowns in his last two losses.