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Derrick Lewis’ plan vs. Fabricio Werdum? ‘Swing until hopefully I hit something’
Filed under: News, UFC, Videos
LAS VEGAS – UFC heavyweight Derrick Lewis’ back isn’t 100 percent, but he’s still confident he’ll beat ex-champ Fabricio Werdum at UFC 216.
“I believe I’ll get him out of there before the fight is over,” Lewis (21-7-1 MMA, 9-4 UFC) told MMAjunkie at a media day in support of his pay-per-view fight with Werdum (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC) on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “I’m feeling in better shape than the last fight. The back is a little bit tight, but other than that, I’m feeling good.”
In June, Lewis re-aggravated a longtime back injury in a fight with Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 110. He hobbled out of the cage with a fourth-round TKO loss and then announced his retirement.
Lewis, the No. 12 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, reversed course on his decision and booked the fight against No. 3 Werdum, who’s trying to work back to a title shot. The 40-year-old PRIDE vet most recently lost a majority decision to Alistair Overeem, bringing him to 1-1 since losing the belt to champ Stipe Miocic.
“I believe he still has the potential to be a champion,” Lewis said of Werdum. “He’s a tough guy. He goes out there and fights. He pushes the fight to you. He’s real strong in jiu-jitsu and his conditioning. But to me, I don’t care. I’m just going to go out there and swing until hopefully I hit something.”
So far, that approach has worked more than not. What Lewis lacks in technique, he makes up for in tenacity and aggression. Against Hunt, a far superior technical striker, he hung in until the combination that forced a referee stoppage in the fourth.
On several occasions, Lewis has surpassed expectations against fighters considered to be more technically advanced. And every time, he’s simply shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
Lewis thinks the same about his UFC career. Although a win over Werdum would look great on his resume and boost his chances of a future title shot, he’s more interested in financial rewards than ceremonial ones.
“I don’t care if I ever fight for the belt, just as long as they pay me good,” he said. “That’s all I really care about.”
Check out the above video to hear Lewis on the upcoming fight, his new vegan diet and other topics.
And for more on For more on UFC 216, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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