Kemo
07-06-2018, 03:04 AM
It’s safe to say Derrick Lewis is a Ronda Rousey fan.
The heavyweight knockout artist has name dropped Rousey on more than a few occasions including just after finishing her future husband Travis Browne in a fight last year.
Now Lewis will fight at UFC 226 in a highly anticipated showdown against Francis Ngannou and Rousey will be in town during the same weekend as she gets inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
“I already sent her flowers,” Lewis said when asked about Rousey possibly attending his fight. “You’re trying to distract me. I’ve got to fight extra hard, she might go to the fight. She might be watching. Now I’m nervous.”
All jokes aside, Lewis has been putting in plenty of work to get ready for his fight with Ngannou.
In the past, Lewis admits he probably didn’t train as hard as other fighters but the results were still the same as he ran through the bulk of the competition that opposed him inside the Octagon.
This time around, however, Lewis was dedicated to sharpen every tool in his arsenal to ensure victory against Ngannou this weekend.
“Let’s just say I’ve been training a lot more than I have been. My past fights, I probably only trained 30 minutes a day. Now I’m training at least two or three hours a day now,” Lewis said. “I’m training more serious. I’m doing everything that I needed to be doing that a mixed martial artist is supposed to be doing. Like trying to eat right cause at first, I wasn’t eating right at all. I’m trying to eat right. I’m still slipping up here and there.
“Just working on everything not just my stand up. I’m working on everything, my wrestling, jiu-jitsu, conditioning, everything. I’m taking it more serious.”
While beating Ngannou really is the best outcome of the weekend, Lewis also hopes that a victory over the highly touted heavyweight will also earn him a shot at the title.
“If I knock him out, it’s a title shot,” Lewis said. “If I win by decision, then I should fight Curtis Blaydes.”
The heavyweight knockout artist has name dropped Rousey on more than a few occasions including just after finishing her future husband Travis Browne in a fight last year.
Now Lewis will fight at UFC 226 in a highly anticipated showdown against Francis Ngannou and Rousey will be in town during the same weekend as she gets inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
“I already sent her flowers,” Lewis said when asked about Rousey possibly attending his fight. “You’re trying to distract me. I’ve got to fight extra hard, she might go to the fight. She might be watching. Now I’m nervous.”
All jokes aside, Lewis has been putting in plenty of work to get ready for his fight with Ngannou.
In the past, Lewis admits he probably didn’t train as hard as other fighters but the results were still the same as he ran through the bulk of the competition that opposed him inside the Octagon.
This time around, however, Lewis was dedicated to sharpen every tool in his arsenal to ensure victory against Ngannou this weekend.
“Let’s just say I’ve been training a lot more than I have been. My past fights, I probably only trained 30 minutes a day. Now I’m training at least two or three hours a day now,” Lewis said. “I’m training more serious. I’m doing everything that I needed to be doing that a mixed martial artist is supposed to be doing. Like trying to eat right cause at first, I wasn’t eating right at all. I’m trying to eat right. I’m still slipping up here and there.
“Just working on everything not just my stand up. I’m working on everything, my wrestling, jiu-jitsu, conditioning, everything. I’m taking it more serious.”
While beating Ngannou really is the best outcome of the weekend, Lewis also hopes that a victory over the highly touted heavyweight will also earn him a shot at the title.
“If I knock him out, it’s a title shot,” Lewis said. “If I win by decision, then I should fight Curtis Blaydes.”