Derrick Lewis has revealed that he didn’t want the UFC 270 main event between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.
The news comes as a bit of a surprise, given that ‘The Black Beast’ has a history with both men. Lewis defeated Ngannou via unanimous decision in one of the worst fights ever at UFC 226. Unfortunately, he faltered in his interim championship clash with Gane at UFC 265.
The UFC 265 main event was supposed to be Lewis’ second go-around with ‘The Predator’. However, Ngannou didn’t end up fighting due to a pay dispute. In the end, it would be Gane who was inserted into the fight with the Houston native.
Due to his history with both, many would expect that Derrick Lewis would’ve had a vested interest in the fight. They would be wrong, as ‘The Black Beast’ revealed at UFC 271 media day that he never watched the fight.
His reason for not watching the UFC heavyweight championship clash? He tried to stream the event, but they kept getting pulled down by the UFC. He noted that he only streamed because he didn’t want Ngannou to get paid for his buy.
“No, I didn’t watch the fight. I’ll be damned if I paid Francis [Ngannou] any money out of my pocket for his pay-per-views. No, I didn’t watch, I tried to stream it, but they kept getting shut down.” – said Derrick Lewis at UFC 271 media day.
Derrick Lewis’ beef with Ngannou may have prevented him from watching UFC 270, but that’s not going to stop him from competing at UFC 271. ‘The Black Beast’ is currently scheduled to fight Tai Tuivasa on the main card.
The fight will be his first time-fighting in his hometown of Houston since his loss to Gane last year.
What do you think about Derrick Lewis’ comments about not watching UFC 270?