Derrick Lewis is back — and he knows his place in the current UFC heavyweight division.
The fan-favorite Lewis hasn’t fought since since earning a third-round knockout of Rodrigo Nascimento in May 2024, however “The Black Beast” returns to action on July 12 when he steps into his 13th career UFC main event, headlining UFC Nashville opposite Tallison Teixeira. A successful night for Lewis would put him on his first win streak since 2021.
Advertisement
Currently seated No. 9 in the UFC heavyweight rankings, Lewis said Tuesday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” that he’s content taking his time beating relative promotional newcomers like Teixeira.
“I ain’t trying to get no title shot, hell nah,” Lewis said. “I want to just continue fighting taxi cab drivers right now. Then we can start talking about title shots.
“We’ll see how active they try to keep me.”
Lewis, 40, was expected to fight sooner, as he was previously scheduled to face Alexander Romanov this past November. Shortly after the bout was made official, UFC changed Lewis’ opponent to Jhonata Diniz, but then that fight fell through when Lewis suffered a non-weight-related medical issue on weigh-in day.
Advertisement
When discussing the withdrawal, Lewis joked about severe cramps as his reason for not fighting. After months of “begging,” Lewis is simply glad to get back in the Octagon and didn’t care who it came against.
“A lot of guys didn’t want to fight, and the guys that did, they already had fights booked. It’s other stuff that’s behind it. It’s politics. It’s also scripted,” Lewis said, joking. “It’s part of the script. You know, the whole UFC is scripted. It’s part of the plan. On July 12, they want me to win, first-round knockout, so it’s part of the script. Whoever wanna make that bet, go ahead and make that bet.
“It didn’t matter who [was next],” Lewis continued. “The Dominican dude that say he’s not Black, he’s Dominican, he called me out (Waldo Cortes-Acosta). I would want to fight him. That would have been good to fight him in March, whenever they were looking for a main event then. I wanted to fight him then. I’ve been training for four months straight.”
When Lewis broke the UFC’s all-time record for most knockout wins (14) against Marcos Rogerio de Lima in 2023, he had finished his UFC contract. His ensuing — albeit brief — free agency period led Lewis to entertain the idea of a rematch against his old foe, Francis Ngannou, in the PFL. But ultimately the UFC’s offer was better, and locked Lewis in for eight more fights at the time of signing. He now has six left.
Advertisement
Lewis has challenged for UFC gold on two occasions, losing via rear-naked choke to Daniel Cormier in 2018 and then losing to Ciryl Gane in 2021 for the interim title. The Texan never expected he’d be fighting into his 40s, but with this current trajectory, he can see his career extending for another decade.
“I can continue fighting these taxi-cab fighters, these newcomers coming in who want to get their name,” Lewis said. “I like fighting guys like that right now. Keep ’em coming.
“Once they hit me with that contract, I said, ‘S***, I could fight until I’m 50. Let’s go. Let’s do it.'”
Assuming Lewis does stick around for years to come, you’d think another eventual title shot would enter his mind if he finds success. With all the turmoil atop the division between the champions Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall, however, Lewis couldn’t be any less concerned with finding his way into the mix.
“I don’t give a damn what they got going on,” Lewis said of the UFC heavyweight title picture. “S***, I’m barely in the top 10. I’m way down there. I’m nobody right now. So I’m not worried about them. If that’s what they want to do, let them do that.”
