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Derrick Lewis is ready to unveil his new and improved attack tomorrow night (Sat., Aug. 8, 2020) at UFC Vegas 6 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, as “Black Beast” meets Aleksei Oleinik in the heavyweight main event.
This is another massive opportunity for Lewis to prove he’s one of the best contenders in the heavyweight division and a fighter who is ready to make another run at UFC gold. While Lewis has captured back-to-back wins over Blagoy Ivanov and Ilir Latifi the heavyweight veteran feels he hasn’t put his best foot forward over the past year. Lewis is hoping to get back to his knockout ways this weekend against one of the best submission specialists in the world.
“I’ve been trigger shy,” revealed Lewis during UFC Vegas 6’s virtual media day earlier this week. “I was a new creature. A different type of body coming into the octagon, feeling different, lighter, feeling faster, and just wanted to test it out.
“Now that I’ve tested it out, going all three rounds in my last two fights, I feel like I’m more comfortable and I can really let loose in the first round and not gas out. That’s what I plan on doing Saturday.”
Lewis, who fought six times from 2018-2019, has enjoyed some much-needed time off during the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic. “Black Beast” has utilized his extended break by working on his cardio and improving his MMA gas tank, which has plagued him in the past.
“It really just helped me actually,” Lewis said about the break. “I bought a bicycle and I’ve been cycling a lot early in the morning like doing 20 miles a day. It really helped me a lot.”
With improved cardio backing his elite knockout power and an extended layoff to refocus his attack on the heavyweight division, Lewis is hoping to show fight fans something new when the cage door shuts this weekend.
“I think you’ll see something you haven’t seen from me in a long time in the Octagon. I’m going to come out balls blazing,” said Lewis.
“Something crazy. Something different. You’ll see something different that you haven’t seen before. That’s all.”
If Lewis is able to defeat Oleinik at UFC Vegas 6 and win his third fight in a row he will put himself close to title contention entering the new year. There are other prominent fighters in the mix at heavyweight, specifically Francis Ngannou, but Lewis believes a dominant performance against “Boa Constrictor” brings his UFC stock to new heights.
“This fight takes me to a new level,” Lewis said. “I’m feeling completely different fight week than I have in the past. I feel like I’m just getting better. I really want to show the fans and show everyone that I have got better.”
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