SALT LAKE CITY – Thirty fights into his career, and after 16 in the UFC, Marcos Rogerio de Lima knows a thing or two about the heavyweight division.
De Lima (21-8-1 MMA, 10-6 UFC) has won four of his past five fights, including quick first-round stoppages of Ben Rothwell and former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski. In April, he gave highly touted prospect Waldo Cortes-Acosta the first loss of his career. Saturday, he gets Derrick Lewis (26-11 MMA, 17-9 UFC) in yet another stiff test at UFC 291 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
“He’s a very explosive guy,” de Lima said through a translator at Wednesday’s UFC 291 media day. “I don’t see the quickness as much. I think I’m faster than him. I think I can do more in that sense. I think I can move faster. I think my skill set is really good for this division. All I have to do is be mindful of defense – just be there, look at what’s coming and be on offense fast.”
A win on the ABC- and ESPN-broadcast prelims ahead of the main card on pay-per-view certainly would have de Lima in position to ask for some continued bigger names – maybe even in a spot in which he could be in the mix for the winner of the UFC 295 heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and ex-champ Stipe Miocic.
That fight, which headlines UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in November, is one de Lima thinks Jones could struggle in.
“It’s a great fight,” the Brazilian said. “We had a lot of expectations with Ciryl Gane, but the real, the complete MMA true heavyweight fighter there is, is Stipe Miocic – the complete fighter. It’s going to be a great fight.”
Check out de Lima’s full pre-fight interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
