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UFC on ESPN+ 4 breakdown: Will Junior Dos Santos or Derrick Lewis get the finish?

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MMA Junkie Radio co-host and MMA Junkie contributor Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for UFC on ESPN+ 4.

UFC on ESPN+ 4 takes place Saturday at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan. The event streams on ESPN+.

Junior Dos Santos (20-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC)

Junior Dos Santos at UFC Fight Night 133. (USA TODAY Sports)

Staple info:

  • Height: 6’4″ Age: 35 Weight: 255 lbs. Reach: 77″
  • Last fight: TKO win over Tai Tuivasa (Dec. 1, 2018)
  • Camp: American Top Team (Florida)
  • Stance/striking style: Orthodox/boxing
  • Risk management: Good

Supplemental info:

+ Former UFC heavyweight champion
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
+ Multiple grappling accolades
+ 14 KO victories
+ 1 submission win
+ 4 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Solid feints and footwork
+ Consistent pace and pressure
+ Excellent boxing ability
^ Accurate shot selection
+ Good counter wrestler
+ Underrated grappling ability
^ Shows solid positional awareness

Derrick Lewis (21-6 MMA, 12-4 UFC)

Derrick Lewis at UFC 229. (Associated Press)

Staple info:

  • Height: 6’3″ Age: 34 Weight: 265 lbs. Reach: 79″
  • Last fight: Submission loss to Daniel Cormier(Nov. 3, 2018)
  • Camp: 4oz. Fight Club (Texas)
  • Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
  • Risk management: Fair

Supplemental info:

+ Legacy FC heavyweight title
+ Regional MMA accolades
+ 18 KO victories
+ 1 submission win
+ 7 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Dangerous right hand
^ Variates between overhands and uppercuts
+ Underrated kicks and knees
+ Strong inside the clinch
^ Strikes well off the breaks
+ Improved grappling and positional awareness
^ Deceptive scrambling/getup ability
+ Devastating ground striker

Point of interest: Dancing with the devil

The main event in Wichita features a fun matchup of strikers that will likely demonstrate the dangerous dance that is heavyweight MMA.

Junior Dos Santos, who fights out of a more boxing-centric stance, is a crisp striker through and through. Working behind the pressure of his jabs and left-handed feints, Dos Santos will set up devastating overhands and uppercuts – strikes that comprise the majority of the former champion’s highlight reel.

Though the Brazilian’s right hand is often known as the clean-up hitter, his left is arguably more accurate, especially when applying his hook. Often utilizing his hooks offensively off of his jabs and feints, Dos Santos does a deceptively good job of placing check hooks to cover his tracks or drawing his opponents into them through baiting fakes.

Still, countering will probably be a potent two-way street given the propensity for violence his current counterpart will bring in close quarters.

Enter Derrick Lewis.

Stepping onto the scene as an unabashed brawler, Lewis has shown signs of improvements underneath the scary destructions that often take place in his fights. An athletic-mover for his size, Lewis can throw accurate knees and head kicks with little signs of struggle.

A downright scary distance closer, Lewis can force his opponents into the fence whether or not he lands on them, almost in a juggernaut-like fashion. With a frame that is hard to control in close, the 34-year-old slugger does his best work when striking off of the breaks, maintaining a dangerous potency in small spaces that goes deep into the fight.

With that in mind, I imagine that Dos Santos cannot afford to sleep on the deceptive savviness of Lewis – who also likes to set traps and counter – but often does so by playing possum to draw you into his uncanny power.

Next point of interest: Tasting the mat

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