"He looked the best in his career last fight" - Robert Whittaker predicts outcome of UFC Sao Paulo headliner between Derrick Lewis and Jailton Almeida

Robert Whittaker recently weighed in on the heavyweight clash between Derrick Lewis and Jailton Almeida, which is set to headline UFC Sao Paulo on Saturday night.

During episode #25 of his MMArcade Podcast, the former UFC middleweight champion shared his thoughts on how 'The Black Beast' matches up with the surging heavyweight contender.

He mentioned that the Brazilian has an advantage with his excellent grappling but didn't count out the former heavyweight title challenger because of his impressive performance at UFC 291.

Whittaker said:

"I think a submission specialist, like grappling-heavy guy in the heavyweight division already has a leg up on a lot of these dudes...He's [Jailton Almeida] also massive, dude, and he's young and he hits hard...But in saying that, [Derrick] Lewis looked the best I've seen him in his career last fight." [19:56 - 20:23]

Robert Whittaker also brought up that 'The Black Beast' appeared to have taken his training a lot more seriously, as he snapped his three-fight losing skid. 'The Reaper' mentioned that he is hoping that Derrick Lewis is able to carry the momentum from UFC 291 into tomorrow night's main event.

"It's the best I've seen him look [UFC 291]," Whittaker said. "But I hope that that's the [Derrick] Lewis we see coming in. Someone who's fit, strong, been wrestling day in and day out. Otherwise, he's gonna get taken down, get tired, and belted." [20:39 - 21:04]

It will be interesting to see whether Derrick Lewis could extend his winning streak. A win over a surging contender like Jailton Almeida could significantly improve his chances at getting close to another title shot.

Check out the full video:

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Who did Derrick Lewis defeat at UFC 291?

Derrick Lewis put on an incredible performance at UFC 291 when he fought Marcos Rogerio de Lima.

The Brazilian heavyweight went into the fight riding a two-fight winning streak that included a first-round submission win over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. 'The Black Beast' had his back against the wall as he was on the final fight of his UFC deal and looking to snap his three-fight losing skid.

The former heavyweight title challenger dropped the Brazilian with a flying-knee and finished him with punches to extend his UFC knockouts record to 14 and earned both a Performance of the Night bonus and a contract extension.