Lewis has no interest in the upcoming heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou, other than to say he thinks Francis sucks.
Derrick Lewis ended the UFC’s 2021 right with a devastating knockout of Chris Daukaus in the first round of their UFC Vegas 45 main event.
Not only did Lewis get the win and a $50,000 performance bonus, he also clinched the record for most knockouts in UFC history. And as always, he got some entertaining zingers off during the post-fight interview.
“That was for Rodney King,” Lewis said during the post-fight press conference. “I’m fighting a police officer, man. Come on, man. That’s the only time you get a chance to punch a police officer in the mouth and get away with it, and then he gets up and shakes you head? S—t, that was a great feeling, man.”
When asked about the upcoming UFC heavyweight unification bout between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, Lewis shrugged it off.
“I really don’t care. Really don’t care who wins,” he said. “Ciryl, I guess he’s a good dude. He’s a likable guy. I couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Personality-wise, outside of fighting, he seemed like a pretty cool dude. Ngannou, on the other hand, he can kiss my ass. He seems like a d—khead 24/7, so f—k him.”
Interestingly enough, earlier in the press conference UFC president Dana White implied he might call Lewis up should COVID-19 restrictions kick back in and stop Ciryl Gane from entering the United States. Lewis, who was clearly looking forward to a relaxed Christmas, took the news with a visible mix of excitement and horror.
“Keep my phone on? Oh s—t,” he said. “I guess we’ll see. I guess. We’ll see, man. I guess. Man. Damn. I just told you I didn’t want that five rounds. But okay, we’ll see. I want the money, yeah. We’ll see. I guess I’ll be ready. Somewhat. “
Lewis made it clear that he wasn’t interested in fighting any more Fight Night five rounders without a belt on the line.
“No matter who it is, three rounds,” he said. “No no no. Three rounds. If you see my name, they say ‘Oh Derrick is fighting main event.’ I’m saying I’m hurt or I got COVID or something like that. I’m not showing up to the fight. I’m dead serious. Three rounds.”
But with January 22nd right around the corner and COVID-19 potentially peaking around the same time in Europe, Lewis may be forced to think in five round terms sooner than he’d like. But hey, at least it’d be for a title.