Laura Sanko says the odds against Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 are too wide and that his knockout power means he should never be counted out against Josh Hokit.
Sanko told MMA Junkie ahead of Sunday’s fight at the White House that Hokit’s -460 favorite status feels excessive given the variables in heavyweight boxing.
It’s easy to paint a story that Derrick Lewis is really up against it, and the guy has more knockouts than anyone in the history of the organization. Quite often, he finds a way to land something, and there’s something special in those hands.
She pointed to the damage Hokit absorbed against Curtis Blaydes as a reason for caution.
That’s not insane-insane, but that’s a pretty wide stretch. I think heavyweight, when you’ve got a guy like Derrick Lewis who has that punching power, it seems pretty wide given those circumstances. I understand why they’re wide. Josh Hokit is a real problem for Derrick Lewis on paper. He’s a real problem for a lot of guys on paper. If this gets past the first round I definitely think we’re going to see those odds grow even bigger. But then it’s like, ‘Remember when he knocked out Volkov with like five seconds to go.’ He’s the king of surprises, he’s the king of knockouts and you can’t count a guy like that out. We saw how much Josh got hit by Curtis Blaydes a few months ago.
Lewis holds the UFC record for most knockouts with 16.