UFC heavyweight Derrick Lewis and rising knockout artist Francis Ngannou are finally set to throw down inside the octagon. Now Lewis has come forward with a statement concerning his upcoming opponent.
Lewis and Ngannou will face off at the highly anticipated mixed martial arts event UFC 226. The live pay-per-view will take place July 7 inside the highly acclaimed T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. during International Fight Week.
Speaking to MMA Junkie, Lewis offered some heated concerning the knockout artist.
“I met him probably two years ago. We’ve fought on the same card twice, in Croatia and then in Albany. I didn’t say anything bad about him. I was telling him, ‘Good luck.’ He came up to me saying, ‘Derrick Lewis, you’re my next opponent.’ This is before the weigh-in. He comes shaking my hand, ‘Derrick Lewis, my next opponent.’ I said, ‘OK, yeah. We can get it on.’
“Then after he won his fight, he called everyone out but me. I thought he wanted to fight me, so why didn’t he call me out? Then after I won, I called him out. MMAjunkie interviewed him and asked what he thinks about me. He was talking sh*t about me saying I’m too slow and this and that and that he would beat me with ease. Ever since then, he’s been talking sh*t.”
“I just wish we were getting paid the pay-per-view points; that sucks. I don’t know why. They want us to sell the fight, but we’re not going to get paid extra? It’s stupid.”
