5 Defining Moments: Derrick Lewis

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A larger-than-life character with light-switch punching power and movie-star charisma, Derrick Lewis maximizes his potential and overcomes his weaknesses as well as anyone in the sport.

The 35-year-old Bob Perez protégé sports a 23-7 career record and has piled up 14 wins in 19 appearances since he linked arms with the Ultimate Fighting Championship a little more than six years ago. Lewis last competed at UFC 247 in February, when he took a three-round unanimous decision from Ilir Latifi and continued to distance himself from a 2019 stoppage loss to former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos. The Texas-based New Orleans native has delivered 18 of his 23 professional victories by knockout or technical knockout, seven of them inside one round. His long list of victims includes Guto Inocente, Gabriel Gonzaga, Damian Grabowski and Shamil Abdurakhimov.

As Lewis awaits word on his next assignment, here are five of the moments that have come to define him:

1. Beastly Upset

Not much was expected from Lewis when he locked horns with the undefeated Jared Rosholt for the vacant Legacy Fighting Championship heavyweight title at LFC 13 on Aug. 17, 2012 in Dallas. “The Black Beast” entered the cage against the three-time NCAA All-American wrestler as a +350 underdog. Indeed, Rosholt was the superior fighter for much of their battle, as he executed multiple takedowns, passed guard with ease and chased submissions, most notably a north-south choke in the first round and an arm-triangle in the second. Lewis withstood it all and benefitted from a controversial referee restart from side control late in Round 2. He denied an attempted takedown, cut loose with power punches and sealed Rosholt’s fate with a crushing left hook 4:41 into the second round. Lewis successfully defended his championship some seven months later, then charted a course for the UFC.

2. Country State of Mind

Lewis did not wilt under the glare of the spotlight, as he defeated former International Fight League champion Roy Nelson by split decision in the UFC Fight Night 90 co-main event on July 7, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges cast 29-28 scorecards: Dave Hagen and Glenn Trowbridge for Lewis, Adalaide Byrd for Nelson. Lewis did some serious damage inside the first five minutes, particularly with knees and kicks to the body. The famously durable Nelson, his rotund midsection bruised by recurrent impacts, waded through the artillery, pushed the fight deeper and switched gears on “The Black Beast.” He executed repeated takedowns, passed guard with ease and utilized his ground-and-pound in spurts. However, he failed to corral Lewis on the floor, as the massive Texan returned to his feet each time he hit the mat. Nelson struck for multiple takedowns in the third round but saw much of his good work erased following a restart from referee John McCarthy. Lewis let his powerful hands go and sent spit flying with a wicked right uppercut in the final minute—a memorable exclamation point to what was then the most significant victory of his career.

3. Gut Check

Though he plowed through another unwitting victim, Lewis did so with considerable difficulty. “The Black Beast” withstood an all-out assault on his body to knock Travis Browne senseless in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 105 headliner on Feb. 19, 2017 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Lewis closed it out 3:12 into Round 2, as he continued his shock-and-awe campaign inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division. Browne blew his chance. “Hapa” had Lewis clutching his gut and shying away from contact after a series of kicks and knees to the body in the first round. Browne let the former Legacy Fighting Championship titleholder off the hook and later encountered an overhand right that sent him to the canvas and perhaps gave him reason for pause. The one-minute respite between rounds did wonders for Lewis, who floored the 6-foot-7 Hawaiian twice in Round 2. After the second knockdown, he pounced with devastating right hands and pounded Browne unconscious before referee Mario Yamasaki arrived on the scene.

4. Heat Wave

Having been outclassed and brutalized for 14-plus minutes, Lewis reached into his bag of tricks and delivered a Hail Mary knockout against former Bellator MMA champion Alexander Volkov in their UFC 229 heavyweight showcase on Oct. 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Volkov hit the deck on the end of a right cross and was beaten unconscious by crushing ground-and-pound 4:49 into Round 3, bring a crowd of 20,034 to a boil. The result erased the 6-foot-7 Russian’s night’s work in an instant, as “Drago” had built what appeared to be an insurmountable lead with body kicks that doubled over Lewis more than once and crisp power punches that left him with damage to both eyes. Afterward, the onetime Legacy Fighting Championship titleholder stripped off his shorts and informed the world that his “balls was hot.”

5. State of Denial

Daniel Cormier made certain it played out as most expected. The American Kickboxing Academy captain retained the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title and looked dominant in doing so, as he submitted Lewis with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC 230 main event on Nov. 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lewis, who had never before been submitted, checked out 2:14 into Round 2. Cormier executed multiple takedowns, buried “The Black Beast” with suffocating top control and tore into him with short bursts of punishing ground-and-pound. In the second round, “DC” tripped Lewis to the mat, attached himself to the monstrous Texan’s back and cinched the choke, cutting of all possible means of escape. The tapout followed soon after.