At UFC 247, Derrick Lewis turned a win into a winning streak.
A hometown favorite in Houston, Lewis (23-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) defeated heavyweight debutant Ilir Latifi by unanimous decision with three scores of 29-28 from the judges.
After a competitive first round, Latifi (14-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) began building momentum. Many believed Latifi’s size disadvantage would be a major factor against him. However, the Swedish fighter tossed Lewis to the ground on multiple occasions – and didn’t look out of place doing it.
Latifi largely controlled the fight on the ground and in the clinch against the cage, but was never able to muster up substantial damage. When the fight rose to the feet, Lewis exploded with a versatile arsenal of strikes, including jumping knees and head kicks. Latifi displayed a strong chin and ate some hard shots from Lewis.
With the fight tied at one round a piece on all three judges’ scorecards entering Round 3, Latifi took Lewis down. Eventually Lewis returned to his feet. With the clock ticking down, Lewis attacked. His late surge stole him the round – and the fight.
With the victory, Lewis answered back-to-back losses with back-to-back wins. His previous outing was a split decision win against Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 244 in November. As for Latifi, his first fight at heavyweight was an unsuccessful one.
The heavyweight bout opened up the UFC 247 main card at Toyota Center. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 247 results include:
- Derrick Lewis def. Ilir Latifi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lauren Murphy def. Andrea Lee via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Khaos Williams def. Alex Morono via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:27
- Mario Bautista def. Miles Johns via TKO (flying knee, punches) – Round 2, 1:41
- Journey Newson def. Domingo Pilarte via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:38
- Andre Ewell def. Jonathan Martinez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Youssef Zalal def. Austin Lingo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
