Derrick Lewis didn’t take long to fire back at Francis Ngannou.

Lewis and Ngannou haven’t exactly been chummy. It all started back in March 2017 when Ngannou said he wasn’t impressed by Lewis. “The Black Beast” responded by calling him an “African booty scratcher."

The two never stopped trading barbs. Following Ngannou’s unanimous decision loss to Stipe Miocic, Lewis poked fun at “The Predator’s” gas tank. This has apparently lit a fire under Ngannou. The heavyweight bruiser recently called out Lewis:

“Derrick [Lewis] has been talking some of his s–t while I was off,” Lewis wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Can someone please let him know that I’m here now, so if he really wants me, he should send his manager to deal with the UFC.”

Never one to back down from a fight, Lewis gladly accepted:

@francisngannou it’s about time someone translated to you that I’ve been wanting this fight since last year #seeyousoonboy #iuhhyou

A post shared by Derrick Lewis (@thebeastufc) on Mar 19, 2018 at 6:03am PDT


Lewis is coming off a late TKO victory over Marcin Tybura. It was “The Black Beast’s” first fight since being stopped by Mark Hunt. Lewis had been considering retiring because he didn’t want to put his family through grief.

As it stands now, Lewis is the fifth ranked UFC heavyweight. Ngannou sits at the number one spot. A win for Lewis could catapult him to a title opportunity.