Derrick Lewis has given his predictions for his fight with Francis Ngannou. The two heavyweights will likely clash again in a rematch of their UFC 226 bout.
Recently, UFC President Dana White revealed that a potential fight between Ngannou and Lewis is in the works. Previously, Lewis was victorious in a ‘bore-fest ‘ matchup over Francis. Hence, he remains ‘The Predator’s’ only active loss to date.
“It’s gonna be five rounds, so it’s not gonna be five rounds of snooze fest.” Lewis expects the competition to be much livelier this time around. As such, he feels that there will be a lot of ‘swinging’ and ‘banging’ in the rematch.
“I will say the first exchange, I’ll knock him out in the first exchange,” he adds. He also insists that he would have finished Curtis Blaydes in the first exchange as well, had the latter stood his ground. Eventually, Lewis finished that fight via KO/TKO in the second round.
Speaking about their UFC 226 bout, he says, “I’m not gonna sit up here and blame him. I’m gonna say it was my fault mostly”. Derrick admits that he had not trained properly leading up to the fight. As a result, he opted for different tactics which somehow won him the fight.
Will Derrick Lewis Replicate his Victory?
Leading up to the fight, Derrick Lewis recognizes that a lot has changed since his last encounter with Ngannou. For one, Ngannou is now the heavyweight champion and much more experienced than last time. However, ‘The Black Beast’ insists that he has made some developments of his own as well.
Aleksei Oleinik of Russia works a neck crank against Derrick Lewis in their heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on August 08, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Credits: Getty Images)
Following his victory over Curtis Blaydes, Lewis has been on break. He feels that since Ngannou is taking time off to visit his family, he can slowly ease himself into training as well. Moreover, the fight is yet to receive an official confirmation.
Even though Derrick has recorded two losses in his last seven fights he will surely be at his peak for this fight. Moreover, with an extra motivation to fight for the title, Derrick will be determined to replicate his UFC 226 victory over Ngannou.
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