Derrick Lewis is favored against Tai Tuivasa at UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 on Saturday, February 12 in Houston, Texas. This event is one of five fights on the main pay-per-view card. Lewis is 26-8 in his career, while Tuivasa is 13-3 in his career. There are a total of 13 fights with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN2/ESPN+ and six on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass at UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2. Let’s look at the bout between Lewis and Tuivasa and UFC predictions.
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 takes place at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Saturday, February 12 with 13 fights with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN2/ESPN+ and six on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 Betting
Derrick Lewis (26-8, 17-6 UFC)
Lewis came into the UFC with a record of 9-2 and he has 17 wins and six losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has five wins and one loss. He defeated Blagoy Ivanov by split decision, Ilir Latifi by unanimous decision, Alexey Oleynik by TKO, Curtis Blaydes by KO, and Chris Daukaus; while losing to Ciryl Gane by TKO. Lewis has been a pro since 2010 and he has 21 wins by TKO/KO and one by submission. He has eight first round finishes.
Tai Tuivasa (13-3, 7-3 UFC)
Tuivasa came into the UFC with a record of 6-0 and he has seven wins and three losses in the UFC. He defeated Rashad Coulter by KO, Cyril Asker by TKO, Andrei Arlovski by unanimous decision, Stefan Struve by KO, Harry Hunsucker by TKO, Greg Hardy by KO, and Augusto Sakai by KO; while losing to Junior dos Santos by TKO, Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision, and Sergey Spivak by technical submission. Tuivasa has been a pro since 2012 and he has 12 wins by TKO/KO and one by decision. He has 11first round finishes.
Tuivasa said this to espn.com about his upcoming fight against Lewis, “I'm a fighter, I'm definitely not going to go out and run for his leg; that’s just not in me, and it's not my style, and I don't think it's his style. I'm younger, I think I'm faster, I've got the aggression, and my style is probably going to be really hard for him. But I'll worry about me; Derrick's the same, as he worries about himself and what he's good at. So that's what the fight's going to be. It's going to be a battle of that -- who's going to land the shot first, and who's going to execute it the best. And I feel like I've got what it takes to put him away.”
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Lewis 2.52 / Tuivasa 4.63
Striking Accuracy: Lewis 50% / Tuivasa 52%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Lewis 2.48 / Tuivasa 3.51
Defense: Lewis 41% / Tuivasa 49%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Lewis 0.48 / Tuivasa 0.00
Takedown Accuracy: Lewis 25% / Tuivasa 0%
Takedowns defended: Lewis 55% / Tuivasa 50%
Submission average: Lewis 0.0 / Tuivasa 0.0
UFC Picks
Is there any real question as to what is going to happen in this fight? Lewis and Tuivasa are both going to be looking to land big shots and neither one is going to back down. I am somewhat tempted to take the price on Tuivasa simply because both of these fighters have big time power and a knockout is likely. Lewis has shown throughout his career that he wins or loses by knockout. He has 21 knockout wins and he has been knocked out five times. Tuivasa has won 13 times and 12 of his wins were by knockout and one of his three losses was by knockout. The rounds total on this fight is listed at 1.5 and I can’t see the fight lasting long. I will lay the price and take the rounds to go under the total.
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 Card & Odds
| DATE | FIGHTERS | MONEY LINE |
| 02/12 | Robert Whittaker | +218 |
| Israel Adesanya | -285 |
| 02/12 | Derek Brunson | +139 |
| Jared Cannonier | -175 |
| 02/12 | Tai Tuivasa | +150 |
| Derrick Lewis | -190 |
| 02/12 | Douglas Silva de Andrade | +168 |
| Sergey Morozov | -215 |
| 02/12 | Jacob Malkoun | -105 |
| AJ Dobson | -125 |
| 02/12 | Marcelo Rojo | +295 |
| Kyler Phillips | -405 |
| 02/12 | Alexander Hernandez | +143 |
| Renato Moicano | -180 |
| 02/12 | Roxanne Modafferi | +286 |
| Casey O’Neill | -390 |
| 02/12 | Fabio Cherant | +194 |
| Carlos Ulberg | -250 |
| 02/12 | Mana Martinez | +231 |
| Ronnie Lawrence | -305 |
| 02/12 | Matt Schnell | +298 |
| Alex Perez | -410 |
| 02/12 | Nasrat Haqparast | +115 |
| Bobby Green | -145 |
| 02/12 | Jared Vanderaa | +120 |
| Andrei Arlovski | -150 |
| 02/12 | William Knight | +135 |
| Maxim Grishin | -170 |
| 02/12 | Mike Mathetha | +183 |
| Jeremiah Wells | -235 |
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