Derrick Lewis🇺🇸 (28-12) baits opponents into brawls and once he finds an opening punishes them with his extremely powerful jabs, straights right, left hooks, right uppercut, looping punches, body shots, and sometimes a unique use of knees.
His style works for him against unskilled Heavyweights but I'm really not a fan of him not pressuring or throwing in volume, he really does for the most part wait for these guys to come to him and against technical strikers his biggest flaw, his striking defense gets exposed and he has to hope for one fight ending shot. Lewis has a solid takedown defense that is lifted by his athleticism, but even when taken down, he is hard to hold down, utilizing good wall walks and sometimes brings the meme to life and just stands up. Tallison Teixeira🇧🇷 (8-0) presses forward, using his height of 6'7" and reach of 83.0" to control distance and land technical and precise jabs, straight punches, hooks, elbows, and knees to the body. Tallison has one submission on his record, but as we know, obviously, still prefers striking, but that doesn't mean he has no experience or skill in the grappling department. In his UFC debut, he shot a takedown attempt to close distance and create opportunities for himself on the feet. My pick is Teixeira (RD1 TKO). I think Lewis is better everywhere but his only chance is through Tallison misusing his size and overextending during his long combinations, leaving his chin open.