MMA News

Tag: Derrick Lewis

  • Derrick Lewis Targets Stipe Miocic Clash With Victory Over Daukaus

    UFC heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis is hoping to book an Octagon meeting with Stipe Miocic when he faces Chris Daukaus this weekend.

    Despite his recent setback, Lewis is seemingly as eager as ever to throw down inside the cage. “The Black Beast” opened his year with one of the most brutal knockouts of 2021. In a February main event, he slept top contender Curtis Blaydes with a vicious uppercut. Given his prior wins against Aleksei Oleinik, Ilir Latifi, and Blagoy Ivanov, Lewis had set himself up for a title shot.

    After Francis Ngannou’s inability to make the Houston-held UFC 265 pay-per-view in August, Lewis had to settle for an interim title fight against surging Frenchman Ciryl Gane. The hometown hero story didn’t play out that night, with the 36-year-old falling in the third round after failing to connect with “Bon Gamin” much during the contest.

    Keen to re-enter the win column, Lewis will fit a third fight into a year for the first time since 2018 when he collides with rising heavyweight Chris Daukaus in Saturday’s UFC Vegas 45 main event.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CXbc-Z0MIZm/

    Lewis Targets “One Of The Best Of All Time”

    While he’s certainly got a stiff test in front of him in Las Vegas this weekend, Lewis isn’t one to shy away from looking into the future. He did exactly that during UFC Vegas 45 media day on Wednesday.

    Lewis discussed his aspirations for 2022 if he can secure a rebound victory against Daukaus. After stating he’d like to be back fighting for gold by the end of the year, “The Black Beast” suggested he can arrive there by facing and beating “one of the best of all time” in Stipe Miocic, who, despite their long tenures in the UFC, Lewis has never faced.

    “I would like to fight for the title at the end of next year,” Lewis said. “That would be great. You know, get through Daukaus, God willing, I come out with the win, I would like to fight Stipe next. I believe he’s top five, so I believe that I should be fighting top-five guys in the division. Nothing against Stipe or nothing like that.

    Stipe Miocic
    Stipe Miocic

    “You know, I don’t feel like I have nothing to prove. It’s just a guy that I’ve never fought. I know he’s like one of the best of all time. You know, I ain’t shit, so I just want to just fight him just because. That’s all. No disrespect or anything like that.” (h/t MMA Junkie)

    Of course, to build a path to Miocic, Lewis will have to get past Daukaus, who will be no easy task. The 32-year-old has gone 4-0 in the UFC since arriving in 2020. After first-round knockouts against Parker Porter, Rodrigo Nascimento, and Aleksei Oleinik, Daukaus jumped up the rankings with a mightily impressive second-round TKO against Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC 266.

    Nevertheless, Lewis’ power will be the dangerous threat it always is, and “The Black Beast” will be hoping to KO his way to the consensus heavyweight GOAT tomorrow night.

    How do you think a fight between Derrick Lewis and Stipe Miocic would play out?

  • Derrick Lewis Admits To Succumbing To Pressure At UFC 265

    Derrick Lewis came up short in his fight for the interim heavyweight belt in his loss to Ciryl Gane via 3rd-round TKO, partly because of the magnitude of the moment.

    In 2018, Derrick Lewis faced an enormous amount of pressure as he was preparing to challenge for the heavyweight title against Daniel Cormier at UFC 230. In that bout, Lewis got submitted in the second round and lost his chance at becoming champion.

    His last fight against Gane was different, as he was getting ready to fight in his hometown of Houston in front of thousands of Lewis fans. This put a lot of overwhelming pressure on the Black Beast.

    “Man, it was just overwhelming fighting in my hometown, all that pressure I had on me,” Lewis told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s media day at the UFC Apex. “I put all that pressure on myself, you know? It would have been 13 years since the day I got out of prison, and winning the title for the UFC heavyweight champion, it would have just – I put so much pressure on myself. It was just very nerve-racking.”

    Despite feeling the nerves and unlike himself leading up to the fight, Lewis welcomes the idea of fighting in his hometown again in the future.

    “I would like to keep fighting in Houston,” Lewis said. “I love fighting in Houston. It was just that day. I just put so much pressure on myself, you know, so it is what it is.”

    Lewis has fought in his hometown two other times in his UFC career: UFC 247 against Ilir Latifi and UFC 192 against Viktor Pesta. Lewis was victorious in both fights.

    Ahead of his fight this weekend against Chris Daukaus, Lewis has the experience advantage between the two fighters. Lewis has fought a total of 34 times professionally to Daukaus’ 15 pro fights. Lewis has been fighting with the UFC for over seven years dating back to 2014, while Daukaus made his debut in the promotion just 16 months ago.

    “Experience don’t mean anything,” Lewis said. “Most fighters go into a fight really just focused on one thing: just winning. So all the outside and noise really doesn’t matter. We’re heavyweights, so anything can happen. Anything, any slip-up or anything can happen.”

    Who do you think will win between Derrick Lewis and Chris Daukaus at UFC Vegas 45?

  • Chris Daukaus: Derrick Lewis Has More Power Than Francis Ngannou

    In the heavyweight realm, fighters hit hard, but some hit harder than others.

    Rising contender Chris Daukaus (12-3) took to MMA on SiriusXM to discuss his upcoming bout with Derrick Lewis this weekend at UFC Vegas 45. According to Daukaus, the Houston slugger hits harder than the current UFC heavyweight champion. 

    “I think he’s got more power than Francis Ngannou,” proclaimed Daukaus. 

    While it’s hard to qualify punching power, there’s no debate that Lewis hits like a Mack truck to the face. Of his 25 victories in mixed martial arts, 20 of those have ended via knockout. “The Black Beast” has been utterly outclassed more than once before detonating a single fist on his opponent’s jaw and ending the fight. 

    Francis Ngannou, though, is no slouch in the power department. With 16 victories to his name, Ngannou earned 12 of them with his punches. Many outlets gave the Cameroonian “KO of the Year: honors back in 2017 for his astonishing finish of Alistair Overeem. 

    Yet, Daukaus is no stranger to turning off another man’s lights himself. The Philadelphian has finished every UFC fight thus far with strikes. His last outing saw him TKO Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC 266.

    Derrick Lewis vs. Chris Daukaus is scheduled for UFC Vegas 45 on December 18. There, the behemoths will meet in a five-round main event.