UFC’s Derrick Lewis bringing unapologetic human personality to Wichita
The first time Derrick Lewis remembers someone telling him they were proud of him is 2009.
He was about 24 years old.
Lewis grew up poor in Texas. He remembers fighting drunk in the Houston streets. He remembers leaving New Orleans in the middle of the night with his mom to escape an abusive relationship.
He remembers coming home and hoping to open the refrigerator to a box of leftovers.
“Most of the time, it wasn’t” there, he said.
Lewis made his UFC debut April 19, 2014. Before he started fighting, he was a truck driver. He picked up fighting after a friend invited him to the gym.
The friend knew Lewis loved to fight and thought he could make money doing it. Now Lewis is known as “The Black Beast.” He is 21-6 with one no-contest. He’s the No. 2 contender in the UFC’s heavyweight division.
He still remembers when his grandpa Jim Bob told him he was proud of him. Through winning three championship bouts and making more than $2 million in career earnings, it is one of the moments he cherishes most.
Lewis considers him his hero.
“Not having a father figure in the house, I was always depressed,” he said. “I just wanted to be different from my background. ... He helped me become a man. He saw that I was wanting a change in my life, just not running the streets like I used to.”
Lewis’ crowning moment came Oct. 6 in Las Vegas, when he knocked out Alexander Volkov with 11 seconds left in the final round.
Fighting on a card that included Khabib Numagomedov and Connor McGregor, Lewis’ bout was named the UFC’s Performance of the Night.
After the fight, he delivered one of the more candid interviews in UFC history.
The interview swept across the Internet and helped solidify Lewis’ brand. He is unapologetically himself.
“That’s the kind of person I am,” Lewis said. “I say whatever I want. I don’t care what people think about me. I think you’ve got to have a sense of humor.”
On March 9, he will bring that bravado to Wichita’s INTRUST Bank Arena. He will fight Junior Dos Santos, the No. 7 heavyweight contender and former UFC champion.
Lewis is fresh off his first loss in over a year and a half, a defeat by submission to Daniel Cormier, a guy some consider the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
The bout for the the UFC heavyweight championship. That would make Lewis’ fight in Wichita an important potential rebound, but Lewis said he doesn’t see it that way.
“Being in the UFC, period, is a big achievement for myself,” he said. “It’s a blessing to get to do what I love. It’s a job to me.”
Lewis said it is, and always has been, about the money for him. He isn’t worried about winning championships, he said. He wants to provide for his family, so no one has to hope for leftovers every night.
Lewis, 33, said he doesn’t know how much longer he will fight. It will come down to how long his body allow him.
He knows he is growing tired of fighting, he said. The pre-fight buildup and training camp routine can be exhausting. He said he is spending more time on his investments, opening businesses and restaurants for a healthy retirement.
“It’s not even the physical part like getting punched; it’s the mental part of it,” he said. “You will be sitting in your locker room, waiting for your name to be called, the traffic in and out of the room, the noise, the crowd, the people, everything to me gets on my nerves, especially on fight day.
“The fight week is the worst week of your fighting career. It’s so stressful.”
But Lewis will step in the octagon for the 29th time in his professional career March 9. Tickets go on sale Friday, and he said he is looking forward to giving not only Wichita, but also the state of Kansas, its first UFC show.
He’ll do it the only way he can: His way.
“Hopefully the crowd gets its money’s worth,” he said. “I’m coming prepared to fight, and hopefully my opponent will, too.”