UFC 200 weekend revolves around the UFC’s returning sun (son) Brock Lesnar but the heavyweight division’s most intriguing athlete resides outside of the main card.
In a division where the average age of the top-15 fighters is 35 years-old, “The Black Beast” Derrick Lewis is the young gun. The 31-year-old Lewis is starting to find his footing amongst veteran heavyweights. His mix of knockout power and ground and pound make him one of the most entertaining in the UFC. He’s shown the willingness to stand toe-to-toe with other heavy-handed heavyweights until one of them lay flat. Lewis’ last 11 professional fights have ended in a knockout, for better or worse.
“I’m a brawler so it don’t matter where the fight goes, I’m always looking for the knockout. I could be on my back and I’m still looking for my knockout,” said Lewis at UFC Fight Night open workouts.
He’s currently on a three fight winning streak, one of only 3 fighters (Miocic & Overeem) in the heavyweight top-15 that can say that, but he’s taking a huge step up in competition this week in his fight against “Big Country” Roy Nelson.
Nelson has knocked out some of the biggest names in the division and never runs from a good fist fight. The odds say that this fight doesn’t go to the judges, so the question is whether Lewis is left lying on his back or celebrating on his belly.
For Lewis a win over the #7 ranked fighter in the heavyweight division sets him up for what Roy Nelson has deemed “black-panty night” fights. Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar & the heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic are all attainable goals for the winner of the Lewis vs Nelson brawl.
“I believe after this fight right here, I’m going to put on a real good performance, I believe probably next year I’m going to step in a short notice title fight. These guys are falling out left and right saying they broke they toenail and stuff like that. I’m going to be ready,” said Lewis when asked about wanting a title fight in the near future.
“UFC knows I’m coming in, giving it all I got – kill or be killed. I love it, they love it. We’re going to keep rolling.”
Derrick’s championship journey starts with his UFC Fight Night bout vs. Roy Nelson.