Derrick Lewis set to return in July against Sergei Pavlovich

Derrick Lewis will be looking to get back into the win column this July.

According to ESPN, Lewis is set to return on July 30 against Sergei Pavlovich. The event does not have a location but Madison Square Garden has been floated out there for the card which is expected to serve as UFC 277.

Derrick Lewis (26-9 and one No Contest) is coming off a second-round KO loss to Tai Tuivasa at UFC 271 back in February. Prior to that, he knocked out Chris Daukaus in the first round in December to return to the win column after a TKO loss to Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.

Lewis is currently ranked fifth at heavyweight and before the loss to Gane, he was on a four-fight win streak. During that run, he had KO wins over Curtis Blaydes and Aleksei Oleinik while also beating Blagoy Ivanov and Ilir Latifi. He also holds notable wins over Francis Ngannou, Alexander Volkov, and Roy Nelson in his career.

Sergei Pavlovich (15-1) made his return to the Octagon back at UFC London in March as the Russian scored a first-round TKO over Shamil Abdurakhimov. It was his first fight since October 2021 when he TKO’d Maurice Greene in the first round in Singapore.

The 11th-ranked heavyweight contender is 3-1 in the UFC as he also knocked out Marcelo Golm in the first round. He lost his UFC debut by TKO to Alistair Overeem in the first round which is the only loss of his career. Pavlovich started out his career out 12-0 and is the former Fight Nights Global heavyweight champion with his title wins coming over Alexei Kudin and Mikhail Mokhnatkin.

With the addition of Derrick Lewis vs. Sergei Pavlovich, UFC 277 is as follows:

• Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira
• Derrick Lewis vs. Sergei Pavlovich

Who do you think will win this heavyweight fight between Derrick Lewis and Sergei Pavlovich?