Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
UFC heavyweight Derrick Lewis wants to fight Curtis Blaydes yet and slim down a little, too.
Derrick Lewis showed off plenty of aggression, and brutality, in finishing Aleskei Oleinik last night in the main event of UFC Vegas 6. On route to earning the 11th KO/TKO of his career ‘The Black Beast’ also showed a little more athleticism than we are used to seeing from him inside the UFC Octagon.
In his post-fight press conference Lewis said that his improved conditioning, and more svelte frame, were a result of him introducing more discipline into his training regimen.
“I owe it to the fans,” said Lewis (ht MMA Fighting), when discussing his reasons for getting in better fighting shape. “I owe it to everyone that supports me. I got to really take it more serious than what I have been.”
According to Lewis, this new discipline does not affect his diet that much. Rather, it meant he was training longer and more often. The top ranked heavyweight said he would continue doing this, with hopes of losing some weight and improving various aspects of his game.
“I’ve really been eating whatever I want and just been training a lot longer than 30 minutes this camp,” Lewis said. “We’ve just been training a lot more. I’ve still been eating bass [fish], still been eating Popeye’s and stuff like that. Just been training more. For sure, I’ll be a lot quicker, a lot more agile, a lot more aggressive and everything.
“I for sure have to get down 15, 20 pounds to feel comfortable in there, and you really will see something scary out of me for sure.”
Also in his post-fight press conference, Lewis touched on who he’d like to fight next. According to the Texan, there’s one fighter in the top five he thinks would be a ‘perfect’ dance partner.
“That’d be perfect to fight Curtis next,” Lewis said. “All he’s going to do is try to grab me and hold me and try to win a decision. He’s not going to try to finish me. If he do try to finish me, that’s fine, but I do believe I can take Curtis down and punish him on the ground.
“Yeah, put that on the headline. Make the headlines, go ahead. Type it. That’s headlines right there. I’m going to take Curtis Blaydes down and finish him.”