Derrick Lewis admits to cheating in past UFC fight: ‘Any means necessary’

Derrick Lewis is coming clean. Apparently, “The Black Beast” intentionally broke the rules in one of his past UFC fights—and possibly others.

Lewis is one of the most experienced fighters in the UFC heavyweight division, and holds the distinction of having the most knockout wins in UFC history. That includes a second-round TKO over South Africa’s Ruan Potts.

His fight with Potts was way back in 2015, and was much less impressive than a lot of his subsequent knockouts. It’s an easy fight to forget. However, Lewis recently revisited the fight, and made a surprising admission about what happened in the cage.

Speaking to MMA Junkie reporter Mike Bohn, Lewis revealed that he intentionally hit Potts below the belt in the first round of the fight.

 

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“I cheated in fights, sh*t,” Lewis said. “One time I kneed him in the nuts. I kneed him in the nuts right off the bat. Soon as the fight started, I kneed him in the nuts on purpose, just because I wanted to get my nerves to calm down. Ruan Potts. That fight right there, I kneed him in the nuts.

“Yeah, I’ll cheat, sh*t,” the heavyweight star added. “Any mean’s necessary. If I want to start poking eyes and all that, I’m gonna poke you in the eye.”

Why is Derrick Lewis willing to cheat in his UFC fights?

The reason Lewis is so willing to foul in his fights is simple, and not surprising. Fighters are almost never penalized for low blows, eye pokes, or strikes to the back of the head. More often than not, referees simply give a warning — sometimes multiple times.

“You’re going to get a warning. They’re not going to take a point as soon as you poke someone in the eye. Sh*t, everybody know that. I’m gonna knee him in the nuts, poke him in the eye. I’m going to do whatever illegal, then say ‘oh, my bad, I didn’t mean to do that.’

“This on record, right? Just know, if I ever do that in any of my previous fights, I’m laughing on the inside.”

Derrick Lewis will return to action against rising prospect Tallison Teixeira on July 12. His Brazilian opponent will clearly want to make sure he’s wearing a high-quality protective cup.