Lewis announces he'll fight Hunt at UFC Auckland
It's about to go down in Auckland.
Derrick Lewis has announced via Instagram that he'll face fellow heavyweight Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 110 at the Vector Arena in New Zealand on June 11. The bout is being targeted as the card's headliner, according to a report from Dann Stupp and John Morgan of MMAjunkie, citing sources with knowledge of the matchup.
Lewis is coming off his sixth straight win, having knocked out Travis Browne and Shamil Abdurakhimov in back-to-back headlining bouts. He is the UFC's sixth-ranked heavyweight, one spot ahead of Hunt.
A native of South Auckland, Hunt is currently in a rough stretch where he has won just two of his past six fights. In his most recent outing at UFC 209, he was knocked out by Alistair Overeem.
Combined, Hunt and Lewis have claimed 25 of their 30 victories by way of KO.
There are a couple of health-related hurdles standing in the way of Lewis-Hunt being confirmed, namely Hunt receiving a medical suspension following the loss to Overeem, and Lewis appearing to have injured his foot at UFC Fight Night 105.
Hunt will require clearance from a physician to compete in June, while the severity of Lewis' injury is unknown.