Derrick Lewis needs a win if he wants to remain near the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight pecking order.
“The Black Beast” will collide with the surging Chris Daukaus in the UFC Fight Night 199 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, as the promotion puts the finishing touches on its 2021 schedule. Lewis has rattled off four wins in five appearances. He last competed at UFC 265, where he succumbed to third-round punches from the unbeaten Ciryl Gane in a failed bid to capture the interim heavyweight crown on Aug. 7. Daukaus, meanwhile, enters the Octagon on the strength of a five-fight winning streak. He last appeared on Sept. 25, when he put away Shamil Abdurakhimov with punches and elbows in the second round of their UFC 266 pairing.
As Lewis and Daukaus approach their pivotal Sin City showdown, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
36: Years of age for Lewis, who was born in New Orleans on Feb. 7, 1985.
20: Lewis wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 80% of his career total (25). His list of UFC victims: Abdurakhimov, Curtis Blaydes, Alexey Oleynik, Alexander Volkov, Marcin Tybura, Travis Browne, Gabriel Gonzaga, Damian Grabowski, Viktor Pesta, Ruan Potts, Guto Inocente and Jack May. Lewis owns one other win by submission—he dispatched Rakim Cleveland with an armbar at a Worldwide Gladiator event on Nov. 12, 2010—and four more by decision.
7: Post-fight bonuses banked by Lewis across his 22 appearances inside the Octagon, tying him with Hunt and Browne for third on the organization’s all-time heavyweight list. Only Stipe Miocic (nine) and Stefan Struve (eight) have more. Lewis has been awarded “Performance of the Night” four times and “Fight of the Night” on three occasions, resulting in $350,000 of additional income.
12: Consecutive calendar years in which Lewis has fought at least once. In addition to his 1-1 record in 2021, he went 2-0 in 2020, 1-1 in 2019, 3-1 in 2018, 1-1 in 2017, 4-0 in 2016, 2-1 in 2015, 2-1 in 2014, 1-0 in 2013, 2-0 with one no contest in 2012, 3-1 in 2011 and 3-1 in 2010.
.690: Cumulative winning percentage between the seven men—Gane, Shawn Jordan (twice), Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier, Mark Hunt, Matt Mitrione and Tony Johnson —who have defeated Lewis. They boast a combined record of 114-49-2.
32: Years of age for Daukaus, who was born on Sept. 25, 1989 in Philadelphia.
11: Daukaus victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 92% of his career total (12). His list of UFC victims: Abdurakhimov, Oleynik, Rodrigo Nascimento and Parker Porter. Daukaus holds one other victory by decision, having taken a unanimous verdict from Jeffrey Blachly under the Cage Fury Fighting Championships banner on Dec. 17, 2016.
76: Significant strikes by which Daukaus has outlanded his four UFC opponents. He has connected on 122 such strikes while absorbing only 46 in return.
8: First-round finishes on the Daukaus resume, but only one was of the sub-minute variety. He punched out Nascimento in 45 seconds at UFC Fight Night 179 in October 2020.
6: Promotions in which Daukaus has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 4-2 in Cage Fury Fighting Championships, 4-0 in the UFC, 1-1 in Xtreme Fight Events, 1-0 in King of the Cage, 1-0 in Ring of Combat and 1-0 in CES MMA.