Derrick Lewis’s goal Saturday night is quite simple: The UFC heavyweight contender is focused on showing a new version of himself to fight fans, rather than building towards title contention.
Lewis (23-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) headlines Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 32 event in Las Vegas. “The Black Beast” takes on veteran Aleksei Oleinik in a five-round contest.
Having taken care of some health issues which hindered his recent performances, Lewis is excited to showcase a new version of himself.
“This fight right here takes me to a new level,” Lewis told reporters, including MMA Junkie during Thursday’s UFC on ESPN+ 32 virtual media day. “I’m feeling completely different in fight week than I have in the past. I’m just getting better. I really want to show the fans and show everyone that I have gotten better.”
Lewis is currently on two-fight winning streak. He last competed in February, where he defeated Ilir Latifi via unanimous decision. A win over Oleinik (59-13-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) could put Lewis in the title contention mix, considering he’s already in the top five of the division’s official rankings.
However, Lewis title aspirations are taking a back seat for now.
“It really just needs to be a dominant performance just so it can keep me in line because Francis (Ngannou) and the dude (Curtis) Blaydes, they might get a title shot before me. So we’ll just see how everything goes from there. I’m not really focusing on the title.”
UFC on ESPN+32 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
