Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov Tops UFC Fight Night Albany; 8 Other Bouts Confirmed

A heavyweight showdown pitting Derrick Lewis against Shamil Abdurakhimov will serve as the headliner for UFC Fight Night 102 in Albany, N.Y., on Dec. 9.

Promotion officials recently announced the pairing. Eight other contests were also revealed for the event: Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Hamilton at heavyweight; Patrick Cummins vs. Gian Villante at light heavyweight; Oluwale Bamgbose vs. Joe Gigliotti at middleweight; Randy Brown vs. Charlie Ward at welterweight; Keith Berish vs. Ryan Janes at middleweight; Tatiana Suarez vs. Juliana Lima at strawweight; Corey Anderson vs. Sean O’Connell at light heavyweight and Tiago dos Santos e Silva vs. Zubaira Tukhugov at featherweight.

UFC Fight Night takes place at the Times Union Center and also includes a previously reported bantamweight showdown between Aljamain Sterling and Raphael Assuncao. The card will stream in its entirety on UFC Fight Pass.

Lewis, 31, was supposed to face Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night in Manila before the card was canceled. “The Black Beast” has won his last four in the Octagon, including a split-decision triumph against Roy Nelson in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night “Dos Anjos vs. Alvarez” on July 7.

After dropping his debut against Timothy Johnson via first-round TKO, Abdurakhimov has earned back-to-back triumphs over Hamilton and Walt Harris in his last two UFC appearances. The 35-year-old Russian owns a 17-3 career mark, with 11 wins coming inside the distance.