Lewis: That win set me back two fights
Derrick Lewis: “I already told my coach I dunno how to take down, I dunno how to do takedowns. My ass needs to sit down somewhere and learn some more technique or something.”
You didn’t like Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis, and The Black Beast he didn’t either.
It was a terrible performance, said Lewis at the UFC 226 post-fight press conference, as transcribed by Ryan Harkness for MMA Mania. I know I say that a lot, but it was a real bad performance. I know for sure I don’t deserve a title shot. I believe it hurt me more than it helped me. Even though I got the win, I believe it probably set me about two fights back.
We knew he really wanted to counter me coming in with my right hand, because I’m real vulnerable when I come in with my right hand. I lean over whenever I throw it and I know he wanted to catch me coming in and hit me with an uppercut, left hook … The gameplan was to take his ass down, and I already told my coach I dunno how to take down, I dunno how to do takedowns.
My ass needs to sit down somewhere and learn some more technique or something. I don’t deserve to call anyone out with a performance like that. I don’t care if he’s the number one contender, I believe I shouldn’t be fighting no one really, after a performance like that.
Lewis is clearly not a man to make excuses. And he suffers from back issues that took him out of a fight vs. Fabricio Werdum at UFC 216 in 2016, and played a role in a loss to Mark Hunt last year.
For sure my back was killing me, conceded Lewis. All I wanted to do was sit down and stay on that bench.
My wife, she really wants me to take care of my back before I even accept any type of fight, but it’s just the dog in me that always wants to fight, no matter what. But yeah, I know I need to take it more serious, and the doctors are telling me I need to lose at least 25 pounds and I need to stretch a lot more than I have been to try and help my back out.
In stark contrast to Lewis’s harsh criticism of himself, UFC president Dana White remained positive.
I don’t agree that his stock dropped, said White. He’s a fun guy. He’s funny. When he gets in there and throws, his fights are exciting. But he always has problems with his back. And that’s going to be a problem for him in there, you don’t wanna go in there with a bad back against Cormier, or any of these other heavyweights. But I like him and I don’t think that his stock drops at all. He won this fight, and tell me the last time he was in a boring fight?
