“The Black Beast” isn’t going anywhere.
Derrick Lewis suffered another disappointing loss on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 68, getting absolutely run over by Serghei Spivac in the main event. Lewis never even touched Spivac, who took his opponent down and submitted him with an arm triangle choke three minutes into the first round (watch the finish here).
It was Lewis’ third loss in a row, and leaves the popular heavyweight at 1-3 since Ciryl Gane defeated him in an interim title fight back in August 2021. For many other fighters, that might generate some anxiety regarding your employment status. But UFC president Dana White was quick to wave away any concerns like that.
“Listen, I have a lot of respect for Derrick Lewis,” White said during the UFC Vegas 68 post-fight press conference. “I love the guy. And he got manhandled tonight. Spivac looked really good. He made a big statement tonight.”
Would the terrible performance hurt his stock with the company?
“Not with me,” White declared. “I love the guy. I love him, so he’s not going anywhere.”
Lewis is undeniably one of the most entertaining heavyweights in the UFC, both inside and outside of the cage. But something hasn’t been clicking in his last few fights. Since his back-and-forth shootout with Tai Tuivasa in February 2022, Derrick has gone down easy in his last two battles, getting finished in the first round.
In this latest effort against Serghei Spivak, “The Black Beast” looked listless and unfocused. He only managed to throw three strikes, none of which connected. And while Dana White may be willing to give him more chances, you simply can’t keep having these kinds of performances in the Octagon.
Derrick Lewis came into UFC Vegas 68 ranked No. 7 at heavyweight. Spivac was No. 12, and we anticipate a straight trade to drop Lewis out of the top ten. That’s a bad skid for someone who was competing for the title not so long ago. Here’s hoping Derrick can turn things around.