Derrick Lewis Gives Updates On His Fight Against Alexander Volkov At UFC 229
Heavyweight knockout artist Derrick Lewis who’s coming off a terrible decision win over Francis Ngannou at UFC 226 last month. MMA fans who called this showdown the worst heavyweight fight ever to UFC president Dana White who offered some solace to Lewis on his performance but dubbed the game as an abomination.
Lewis took all the criticism for his performance and added a factor of a back issue that plagued him.
“The Black Beast” was also responsible for his withdrawal from planned UFC 216 fight against former champion Fabricio Werdum last year and even hinted at retirement, citing back problems keeping him from fighting.
But all that didn’t stop Lewis as he wants to focus on his upcoming fight against Alexander Volkov at UFC 229’s co-main event on October 6 from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and wants to erase the memory of his last fight.
Lewis who’s is 8-1, said that he’s feeling better after undergoing back treatment and ready for an upcoming challenge.
“Right now it’s going pretty good,” Lewis told host Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour. “The shots that I took, they said it should last like 10 to 12 months.
“It wasn’t stem cells or nothing like that. It was something — they shot me like 20 times in one spot, it was some type of steroids.”
Yes, Lewis took some ‘type’ of steroids shot that USADA reportedly approved it as well. ‘The Black Beast’ mentioned his back issue is not related to disc, but more of muscular in ‘nature,’ besides those shots he’s currently working on stretching his muscles and rehab.
“This is my first time having them (the shots),” Lewis said. “I was taking magnesium, and magnesium was working for a while, but this last fight right here, it didn’t work at all.
“I feel good. I feel real mobile right now,” he added. “All of my fights, especially all of my UFC fights my whole career, I’ve never been in there without any kind of impingement and pain wrong with my back. It just amazes me that I made it this far with all the pain that I have to endure during all of my fights.
“We’re taking it step-by-step, day-by-day. We’re taking it real slow, because ain’t no way I’m going to pull out of this fight again. I’ve pulled out in the past and I ain’t planning on doing it for this fight here.”
UFC 229 PPV event is set to take place on October 6 with the main headliner features a former two-division champion returns to Octagon after two years of hiatus to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title.
Lewis may enjoy some of Mcgregor’s shine after the PPV numbers emerged. Lewis has a chance to cement himself in the division if he manages to beat the Volkov, which can put him into a title situation.
“He’s a tough guy, he’s a long guy,” Lewis said of Volkov. “I really can’t stay in his kicking range or his reach, and stuff like that. I believe I’ve gotta push the pace and get closer to him and really get more strikes off than he can land on me.
“Hopefully it can be a dominating performance and put me right back in the place I was supposed to be in — be a contender, a real contender, and be fighting for the belt next.”
Do you think Lewis will come out on top at UFC 229?
