Derrick Lewis and Shamil Abdurakhimov will clash on December 9 during the main event of UFC Fight Night 102 at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
Lewis (16-4) has won four in a row, the last one being a split decision over Roy Nelson in July. It was the first time that “The Black Beast” needed a decision to win a fight.
Of his previous victories, 14 had been by KO and one had been by submission. Lewis was going to face Marcin Tybura en UFC Fight Night 97, but that event was canceled. Lewis has a record of 8-2 in his last ten fights
Abdurakhimov (17-3) has won two straight, the last one a split decision over Walt Harris on October 1 during UFC Fight Night 96. The 35-year-old Russian made his UFC debut on April 2015, when he lost via a KO against Timothy Johnson.
Since then he has defeated Anthony Hamilton by unanimous decision on February of this year prior to beating Harris. Overall, Abdurakhimov has won five of his last six fights and eight of his last ten. Of his 17 wins, seven have been by KO, four by submission and six by decision.
The event will also feature the fight between Cameroonian Frances Ngannou (8-1) and Washingtonian Anthony Hamilton (15-5). The African fighter has seven in a row, with five of them coming by knockout and three by submission. His last fight was on July 23 when he defeated Bojan Mihajlović by KO.
Hamilton’s last fight was on July 30 when he beat Damian Grabowski also via KO. The American started his career 12-2, but since then he has lost three of his last six fights, including a loss in February to Abdurakhimov. Of his 15 wins, eight have been by KO, six by decision and one by submission.
The other two fights of the main card will be Corey Anderson against Sean O’Connell and Gian Villante facing Russian Saparbek Safarov.
The following fights will be part of the preliminary card of UFC 102:
Justine Kish vs. Ashley Yoder / Randy Brown vs. Brian Camozzi / Joe Gigliotti vs. Gerald Meerschaert / Andrew Sanchez vs. Trevor Smith / Frankie Perez vs. Marc Diakiese / Keith Berish vs. Ryan Janes / Tiago Trator vs. Shane Burgos / Juliana Lima vs. JJ Aldrich
