Breaking: Fabricio Werdum vs. Derrick Lewis Targeted For UFC 216

A massive heavyweight contest is being targeted for UFC 216 on pay-per-view (PPV).

Per a report from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC is planning to have No. 2-ranked Fabricio Werdum go head-to-head with fan favorite and No. 7-ranked Derrick Lewis:

“”The Black Beast” comes off of a fourth round TKO loss to knockout artist Mark Hunt. He was previously on a six fight win streak, finishing all but one via knockout, highlighted by a second round knockout over Travis Browne. Lewis briefly contemplated retirement after his loss to Hunt, however, that was merely out of emotion following the loss.

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Werdum is an ex-UFC heavyweight champion that earned one of the biggest wins of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career when he submitted Cain Velasquez in June of 2015 to win the title. He lost in his first title defense via knockout to current champ Stipe Miocic before going on to defeat Travis Browne via decision. His last Octagon appearance saw him take the wrong end of a majority decision to Alistair Overeem.

UFC 216 is set to go down live on PPV from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 7, 2017. Currently, an interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee is to serve as one of the featured bouts of the evening.