5 reasons why Derrick Lewis vs. Tai Tuivasa will steal the show at UFC 271

#4. Tai Tuivasa is in the form of his life and is only improving with each bout

Tai Tuivasa has knocked out his last four opponents, including Greg Hardy

For as exciting as Derrick Lewis has been throughout his tenure with the UFC, it’s arguable that Tai Tuivasa has been just as much fun to watch. ‘Bam Bam’ is less proven than his opponent this weekend, but his highlight reel is very similar.

Tuivasa burst onto the scene back in 2017 with a crazy flying knee knockout over Rashad Coulter. He then went onto defeat Cyril Asker and Andrei Arlovski in exciting fashion.

Three losses in a row then derailed him and he looked outright awful on the ground against Sergey Spivak. However, since returning from a year away at the back end of 2020, he’s been on the best form of his career.

Tuivasa’s last four fights have all ended in a knockout victory, including a come-from-behind win over Greg Hardy that saw ‘Bam Bam’ almost finished himself before somehow knocking out the ‘Prince of War’.

Essentially, at 28 years old, it’s likely that Tuivasa hasn’t yet reached his physical prime. However, he’s probably approaching it now, something backed up by the apparent improvement he’s shown in the past two years.

Given how exciting he was prior to this improvement, it’s likely that he’ll remain one of the best fighters to watch in the heavyweight division overall. If he can produce his best against Lewis this weekend, he could well end up involved in a classic.

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#3. UFC 271 isn’t the deepest card overall

Outside of its headliner between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker, this weekend's card isn't that deep

Derrick Lewis vs. Tai Tuivasa looks like a fantastic bout on paper. Given the propensity of both men to produce brutal knockouts, it’d probably be a surefire Fight of the Night contender on any event.

However, it’s probably arguable that as part of the card for UFC 271, the chances of this heavyweight clash stealing the show are only likely to be magnified.

That’s because, despite this weekend’s event being a major pay-per-view, it isn’t actually the deepest card overall, outside of its epic main event clash between middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya and former champ Robert Whittaker.

Sure, Derek Brunson vs. Jared Cannonier is a great fight that could produce the next title challenger at 185 pounds, but outside of that? Kyler Phillips and Marcelo Rojo are both coming off losses and Bobby Green and Nasrat Haqparast have a tendency to go the distance.

The preliminary card does feature some exciting fighters, names like Casey O’Neill, William Knight and Carlos Ulberg, for instance. However, for the most part, they’re against opponents who mean they’re more likely to win a bonus for Performance of the Night.

Tuivasa vs. Lewis, meanwhile, looks like a well-matched bout between two genuinely wild brawlers. On a card that isn’t the most stacked pay-per-view in UFC history, that could be enough for it to steal the show.