Derrick Lewis denies avoiding Curtis Blaydes matchup, claims Alistair Overeem ducked him three times

Derrick Lewis denies avoiding a fight against Curtis Blaydes, instead, he claims Alistair Overeem has avoided fighting him three times.

“The Black Beast” will fight Aleksei Olenik on August 8 at UFC Vegas 6 in Nevada. While Lewis is satisfied with the pivotal matchup, he would prefer a fight against heavyweight standouts, Curtis Blaydes or Alistair Overeem.

According to the 35-year old, “The Reem” has avoided a fight against him on multiple occasions. He also claimed that the UFC have denied his attempts to fight Blaydes so doesn’t understand why he has accused him of ducking a matchup.

“I don’t understand what he’s talking about,” he said during virtual media day. “This will be my twentieth UFC fight and I have fought all of the tough guys in the Octagon and he’s now just coming up on the radar. I don’t even know how many fights he’s had in the UFC for him to talk like he could take me.”

“I already fought just about everybody in the Top 10. The only guys I haven’t fought are Overeem and him. I’ve been asking to fight Curtis and Overeem. Overeem turned me down like three times in this past month before Oleinik popped up. And I asked for Blaydes, and if he don’t believe it he can ask Mick (Maynard).”

Lewis and Overeem have developed a feud that’s been simmering for a few years. The Reem said he is not impressed with Lewis’ fighting abilities and mocked him for his sense of humour. Meanwhile, The Black Best highlighted Overeem’s knock out loss against Jairzinho Rozenstruik and said he’s glad he got “worked”.

Blaydes is also frustrated that he hasn’t got the opportunity to throw it down with Lewis. In an interview earlier this month, he said he would “destroy” Derrick Lewis in the Octagon. He also accused UFC matchmakers of putting a halt the possible matchup in an attempt to avoid Lewis from taking another loss.

However, a matchup between the pair could be on the horizon, if The Black Beast can defeat Oleinik this weekend. In terms of Overeem, he is scheduled to face Augusto Sakai at UFC Fight Night on September 5 2020.

For the heavyweight title, Stipe Miocic will try to defend his 265-pound crown against Daniel Cormier in an eagerly-anticipated trilogy bout in the main event of UFC 252 ON Saturday 15 August.

Which upcoming heavyweight clash are you most excited to watch? Let us know in the comments below.