Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis summons his inner-McGregor while taking a shot at lesser-known opponent

Derrick Lewis has had an unusual past couple of weeks. First, “The Black Beast” flew out to Manila in The Philippines, only to discover the entire fight card had been canceled.

Lewis was quickly offered another fight after the UFC paid out the fighters who were set to compete on the canceled Manilla card. Now, “The Black Beast” is taking on the relatively unknown Shamil Abdurakhimov (17-3) in the main event if UFC Fight Night 102. While the fans may not be familiar with him, Lewis is still not taking him lightly.

“The Black Beast” took to Twitter on Saturday morning to stress his focus on the right, regardless of Abdurakhimov’s unheralded name.

I will be taking this long last name motherf**%#r serious #ufc #NewYork #theblackbeast

— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) October 15, 2016

Lewis (16-4) is riding a four-fight win streak, with three of those victories coming by way of knockout and his most recent decision win over Roy “Big Country” Nelson in July. A victory over Abdurakhimov would put “The Black Beast” at five wins in a row as he works his way into heavyweight title contention.

His opponent, while relatively unknown, has actually already fought three times in the UFC. Abdurakhimov lost in his octagon debut in 2015 but has since picked up two decision victories over Anthony Hamilton and Walt Harris.

Lewis tweeted again about his opponent and summoned his inner Conor McGregor:

I'm like…. pic.twitter.com/otofxh7Nye

— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) October 15, 2016

Lewis of course was making a reference to McGregor’s verbal swipe at Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens at a recent press conference when Stephens claimed he was the hardest hitting featherweight in the division.

“The Black Beast” was initially set to fight Marcin Tybura on the UFC: Manilla card, which was unfortunately scrapped after an injury forced BJ Penn out of his comeback bout with Ricardo Lamas.

As of now, the UFC has Lewis ranked at number 11 in the heavyweight division, and a fifth win in a row for “The Black Beast” could put him closer to the division’s top ten.

Lewis and Abdurakhimov will headline UFC Fight Night 102 on December 9 in Albany, New York.

Who do you see winning in the battle between heavyweights? Will “The Black Beast” continue his win streak? Or will the unheralded Abdurakhimov make his name with a win over Lewis? Sound off, PENN Nation!