Matches to Make After UFC Fight Night ‘Lewis vs. Browne’

Derrick Lewis plowed through another unwitting victim, albeit with considerable difficulty.

“The Black Beast” withstood an all-out assault on his body to knock Travis Browne senseless in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 105 “Lewis vs. Browne” main event on Sunday at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Lewis closed it out 3:12 into Round 2, as he continued his scorched-earth policy inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division.

Browne blew his chance. The 34-year-old “Hapa” had Lewis clutching his gut and shying away from contact after a series of kicks and knees to the body in the first round. Browne let the former Legacy Fighting Championship titleholder off the hook and later encountered an overhand right that sent him to the canvas and perhaps gave him reason for pause. The one-minute respite between rounds did wonders for Lewis, who floored the 6-foot-7 Hawaiian twice in Round 2. After the second knockdown, he pounced with devastating right hands and pounded Browne unconscious before referee Mario Yamasaki arrived on the scene.

In the aftermath of UFC Fight Night “Lewis vs. Browne,” here are five matches that ought to be made (online sportsbooks):

Derrick Lewis vs. Francis Ngannou: Lewis has rattled off six consecutive victories, five of them finishes, and has emerged as an alarming threat in an aging division. He has beaten Browne, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Roy Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga, Damian Grabowski and Viktor Pesta in succession since his technical knockout loss to Shawn Jordan in June 2015. Only the famously durable Nelson has gone the distance with Lewis during his current tear. Ngannou shares are trading at an all-time high after the Cameroon-born Frenchman shredded former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in a cool 92 seconds at UFC on Fox 23 in January.

Johny Hendricks vs. Rashad Evans-Daniel Kelly winner: So far, so good for Hendricks in his move to 185 pounds. The former welterweight champion debuted inside his new weight class with a unanimous decision over American Top Team’s Hector Lombard in the co-headliner. Hendricks steered clear of the Cuban judoka’s fast and powerful hands, as he tore into him with thudding lefts and surprised him with stepping knees. Lombard’s gas tank had run dry by the third round and he could do little more than operate in single strikes to combat the four-time NCAA All-American wrestler. Evans and Kelly will collide at UFC 209 on March 4.

Elias Theodorou vs. Krzysztof Jotko: The once-beaten Theodorou relied on his output and superior conditioning in claiming a unanimous verdict from Cezar Ferreira in their middleweight showcase. According to FightMetric data, “The Ultimate Fighter Nations” winner outlanded Ferreira by a startling 52-2 count over the final 10 minutes, thus offsetting the Brazilian’s two completed takedowns and a second-round bid for a rear-naked choke. Theodorou, 28, has posted back-to-back wins since suffering the first setback of his career in a decision loss to Thiago Santos in December 2015. On a five-fight winning streak, Jotko has not competed since he outpointed Thales Leites at UFC Fight Night 100 on Nov. 26.

Sara McMann vs. Raquel Pennington: McMann did what was expected of her against Gina Mazany, a short-notice fill-in for original opponent Liz Carmouche. The 2004 Olympic silver medalist steamrolled the overmatched Mazany in just 74 seconds, an arm-triangle choke her weapon of choice. McMann has pieced together a three-fight winning streak since she submitted to a rear-naked choke from current bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC Fight Night 73 in August 2015. She now owns a 5-3 mark inside the Octagon, having lost only to Nunes, Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey. Pennington has been in a steady ascent for two years. She last appeared at UFC 205 on Nov. 12, when she was awarded a unanimous decision over Tate at Madison Square Garden in New York. It was Pennington’s fourth straight win.

Paul Felder vs. Joe Lauzon: Felder rose from the ashes of a cut-induced defeat to Francisco Trinaldo in September and wiped out Alessandro Ricci in the first round of their lightweight showcase. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder blasted Ricci with a step-in elbow, tracked him to the fence and uncorked a knee strike upstairs before drawing the curtain with unanswered punches. Felder has quietly won three of his last four fights, slowly gaining traction in the cutthroat lightweight division. Lauzon last competed at UFC Fight Night 103 on Jan. 15, when he pocketed a controversial split decision against Polish leg lock connoisseur Marcin Held.