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https://scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3143777/ufc-265-derrick-lewis-predicts-ciryl-gane
Martial Arts/ Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 265: Derrick Lewis predicts Ciryl Gane will fall, like so many have done before

  • American heavyweight closes in on interim title – and all-time KO record
  • ‘I go for the knockout and the knockout is the best feeling there is, no doubt,’ Lewis
Derrick Lewis celebrates after his knockout victory over Curtis Blaydes. Photo: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

There’s no great secret to what American heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis likes to do when the cage door shuts.

“I go for the knockout and the knockout is the best feeling there is, no doubt,” Lewis tells the Post.

That’s the game plan once again when the No 2-ranked 36-year-old (25-7, one no contest) steps into the Octagon to fight for the interim heavyweight title against the surging Frenchman Ciryl Gane (9-0) at UFC 265 in Houston, Texas, on Saturday night.

The 31-year-old Gane knows what’s coming at him, and “The Black Beast” is happy to spell it all out for him regardless – just to avoid any confusion.

Ciryl Gane kicks Alexander Volkov. Photo: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Ciryl Gane kicks Alexander Volkov. Photo: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

“What I see ahead of me is a guy who is really good at striking but he’s more like a kick-boxer who doesn’t look to finish his opponent,” says Lewis. “He don’t really push the pace. Hopefully he will fight me different than his last guy. I don’t want to be in a boring fight. Hopefully he’ll look for a finish because I know I’m going to look for a finish right off the bat.”

If Lewis follows through with his promise it’ll take him to an all-time record of 13 knockouts in the UFC, surpassing Brazil’s former light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort (who had 12), and it will also move him one step closer for a shot at the title proper, held by another knockout artist in the Frenchman Francis Ngannou (16-3, with 10 knockouts in the UFC).

“Well I never took steroids,” Lewis begins, when asked how the record might feel, alluding to Belfort’s chequered past in that regard.

“I never will take steroids so to take the record being sober and not being a cheater would be a real accomplishment for me. And I think about Francis because everybody is always writing him up. I’m thinking about Ciryl now but I’m having a think about Francis as well.”

It would cap an astonishing rise for Lewis, in life as much as in the UFC. He recalls first discovering his punching power as a Houston high school kid back in 2003 when he became embroiled in a fight at a party, and he first felt the power surge that simmers away in that right hand of his.

errick Lewis punches Aleksei Oleinik. Photo: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
errick Lewis punches Aleksei Oleinik. Photo: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

“I felt like I was invincible because I had Bud Light in me but it felt good just laying guys out,” explains Lewis. “Then it became something I did just about every weekend after that.”

But Lewis’ tendency to fight first and consider the ramifications later led to trouble – and to a probation, and then to a stretch in prison for assault – and he reveals it took marriage and fatherhood for him to finally start to realise the potential he had, and the looming possibility there was that he might throw it all away.

“I had to become a changed man,” he says. “I had to learn to hold my anger in. These days I let it out at the perfect moment. My wife, my kids, I know I have to act a certain way when I’m around them and because of them. I have to show my kids the type of person I want them to be when they grow up. I want to see them every day so I know I can’t do anything stupid that might take that away. What I’ve been given is a blessing.”

Derrick Lewis (right) poses with Daniel Cormier ahead of their heavyweight title fight at UFC 230. Photo: AP
Derrick Lewis (right) poses with Daniel Cormier ahead of their heavyweight title fight at UFC 230. Photo: AP

Saturday night’s bout promises plenty, with that interim title on the line, along with a pay-per-view payday and the promise – as always when Lewis is involved – that he might walk away with another performance bonus.

Gane, for his part, has serious power – as the three knockouts from his nine wins might attest – but he can slow the pace down to a crawl, if the mood takes him, as shown last time out, at UFC Vegas 30 on June 26, when he ground down the Russian Alexander Volkov (33-9) over five rounds that weren’t exactly thrilling but they sure were effective.

But rare is the occasion that Lewis can’t call on that massive right hand of his to light things up.

Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes trade punches in their heavyweight bout. Photo: USA TODAY Sports
Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes trade punches in their heavyweight bout. Photo: USA TODAY Sports

It was unleashed once again against the fourth-ranked American Curtis Blaydes (14-3) at UFC Vegas 19 on February 20, via an uppercut that saw the American do a pretty good impression of a plank after he had come in low for a takedown.

The thrill of landing the blow still to this day has Lewis beaming – as does the promise that he might well deliver the goods again come Saturday night in front of what promises to be a raucous hometown crowd.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling, when you land something like that,” says Lewis. “I had to keep my composure but inside I’m jumping up and down. I’m still happy because he’d been talking trash. I only had three hours of sleep before that fight. It was like waiting for Christmas Day.

“When I first started in MMA that was one of the things I wanted – to fight for a title in Houston, to have [announcer] Bruce Buffer introduce me, and call me a champion. It’s a dream come true.”