The UFC knockout king Derrick Lewis is having a really hard time in the promotion; after losing four out of his last five appearances, many have considered that this is the end for this heavyweight.
After Lewis’s last defeat against Sergey Spivak, UFC president Dana White spoke out about the future of “The Black Beast,” saying that this is not the end for him.
“Not with me. I love the guy. I love him, so he’s not going anywhere.”
In the post-fight press conference of UFC fight night 218 on Saturday, Dana White expressed his respect and love for Lewis despite the fact that the Texas native tasted an arm-triangle choke submission defeat within three minutes of the fight.
“Listen, I have a lot of respect for Derrick Lewis. I love the guy. And he got manhandled tonight. Spivac looked really good. He made a big statement tonight.”
However, the love for Lewis is not a new thing for the American millionaire; last year, when the UFC most knockouts record holder suffered a TKO defeat against Sergei Pavlovich within a minute of the fight at the main event of UFC 277, the UFC boss even then backed the 37-year-old blaming the referee for stopping the fight too early.
“I think it was too soon, but to be fair—I think Miragliotta’s a great ref—the way that he fell, probably nine out of the 10 people in this room would’ve jumped on him and stopped the fight, including me. I like the ref, but I wouldn’t really debate that was an early stoppage. That was definitely an early stoppage.”
Having a good relationship with the management is not sufficient; performance in the octagon is what matters most in the combat sports fraternity, so to be in the limelight, the only thing to do is to keep performing.
Fighters like Derrick Lewis, who has a solid previous record, will still suffer if they fail to win, and their age is also a major factor to consider in the long run.
