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Despite the crippling coronavirus pandemic, which led to international lockdowns and the closure of nonessential businesses, a handful of stateside mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters are still hoping to see action later this month.
Derrick Lewis isn’t one of them.
Probably because “The Black Beast” is living off his mattress fortune and can stand to miss a payday or two. Or maybe the heavyweight power puncher just wants to keep his family safe by staying at home and not putting himself at risk.
“I want to get through this safely,” Lewis told MMA Junkie. “I can’t be selfish and stuff like that and go out there and get myself sick and all my family, and bringing back whatever I got and give it to my kids and stuff like that, and my loved ones. So I’ve got to be not selfish enough and just wait and see what the president has to say about everything and just look up to the leaders and just see what they have to say.”
Lewis, 35, was fortunate to have competed right before the coronavirus craze took hold of the country, capturing a unanimous decision win over Ilir Latifi at UFC 247 back in February. Even without COVID-19 keeping things tabled, “Black Beast” probably wouldn’t have returned to the cage before early-to-mid summer.
UFC is expected to stage a live pay-per-view (PPV) event on April 18, though a city and venue have yet to be secured. In addition, one half of the main event, Khabib Nurmagomedov, is currently stranded in Russia, unable to fly.
Promotion president Dana White, however, insists the show must go on.
Naked and afraid
— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) March 10, 2020