A much-desired Heavyweight bout between former title contenders Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis didn’t quite live up to the hype, as the two men fought for a lackluster 15 minutes at UFC 226 last July.
Relive it again (if you dare) here.
Though “Black Beast” walked away with a unanimous decision victory over “The Predator,” he wasn’t exactly gloating about the win. In fact, he was downright disappointed. That’s why he wants to get a chance to make to right the wrong before he retires from the fight game.
“I would like to fight him again,” Lewis on Wednesday told MMAjunkie. “If he gets to the title, then, yes, I’ll fight him again. I would love to fight him again if he gets the title shot,” he added while saying it eats at him that he didn’t get at least once clean shot on his fellow heavy-handed combatant.
“I have to right the wrong. I can’t retire without fighting Francis again – at least get in a good shot on the guy. Goddamn, I wish I would have gotten a good shot on him. We’ll see how this year plays out.”
Ngannou scored an impressive 26-second knockout victory over former 265-pound king Cain Velasquez at UFC on ESPN 1 a few weeks ago (see it again here), giving him his second straight win.
As for Lewis, he will look to bounce back from his submission loss to Daniel Cormier last year at UFC 230 when he faces Junior dos Santos this Saturday night (March 9, 2019) at UFC Fight Night 146 in Wichita, Kansas.
To learn more about that fight card — which will air on ESPN+ — click here.