UFC Fight Night 146 predictions — Lewis vs. dos Santos: Fight card, odds, live stream, start time

UFC Fight Night 146 is set to take place on Saturday night in Wichita, Kansas, with a monumental heavyweight showdown highlighting the evening. In the main event of the next big UFC event, Derrick Lewis will take on former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, as the latter looks to earn a shot in the future at the title that he once held. 

And make no mistake about it, dos Santos (20-5), who’s riding a two-fight win streak since his return to competition in July 2018, has his eyes firmly on the prize. In a recent interview with CBS Sports, the 35-year-old made it clear that going through Lewis on Saturday night in the main event puts him just another step closer to challenging for the title he once called his own. 

“Actually, I don’t think I have to do much more than winning fights to get to the title fight because I’m already qualified to be fighting for the title. You know, I already fought for the title before and people know me and they know what I’m capable of,” dos Santos said. “I’m keeping [it] very positive, everything is happening in a good way for me. I want to translate these things out in good results and become champion. Derrick is going to be one more step for this.” 

Lewis (21-6, 1 NC) and his immense punching power provide quite the unpredictable challenge for dos Santos, though. You never know what you’re going to get inside the Octagon from the “Black Beast,” which is what makes him so fun to watch inside the cage. In his most recent outing, Lewis was afforded the opportunity to challenge Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title in Madison Square Garden, a fight in which he was thoroughly dominated en route to a second-round submission win for Cormier. Prior to that, however, Lewis provided us with one of the more memorable finishes in recent memory with a miraculous comeback KO victory over Alexander Volkov at UFC 229. 

UFC Fight Night 146 viewing information

Date: Saturday, March 9 | Start time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: INTRUST Bank Arena — Wichita, Kansas
Stream: ESPN+ (Free one-week trial available here)

Here’s the fight card with the latest odds from Westgate.

UFC Fight Night 146 main card, odds

Prediction

Lewis vs. dos Santos: Why should you watch this fight if you’re a casual combat sports fan? That answer is easy: these two will both be aiming for the knockout victory in violent fashion. Who doesn’t love that? That knockout will come, with dos Santos inching himself closer to challenging for the UFC heavyweight title once again. Lewis will get his shots in, as always (please disregard the Francis Ngannou debacle; I’ve forgotten it and you should, as well), but as we witnessed in his recent victory over Tai Tuivasa, dos Santos should be able to absorb them along the way. The ex-champ will put his superior boxing skills to work and lay out a likely gassed Lewis to earn his third consecutive victory as he continues to climb the heavyweight ladder. Prediction: Junior dos Santos via TKO3