Derrick Lewis says it “would be really crazy” to win UFC heavyweight title

Entertaining UFC heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis believes it “would be really crazy” to win the promotion’s heavyweight championship.

Lewis has been one of the UFC’s top heavyweights for many years. While he came up short in his lone crack at the heavyweight belt—losing via submission to Daniel Cormier in 2018—he remains a fixture of the top-5 and conceivably re-enter the title conversation if he beats Curtis Blaydes this Saturday.

Speaking to the media ahead of his fight with Blaydes, Lewis admitted it feels “really crazy” to imagine himself as the UFC heavyweight champion.

“That would be crazy,” Lewis said at a pre-fight news conference held Thursday (via MMA Junkie). “That would be really crazy for a guy like me, going through all the stuff that I went through, and becoming UFC champion, heavyweight champion of the world. That’s just crazy to even put in the same sentence as my name: ‘Derrick Lewis, heavyweight champion of the world.’

“It just felt even crazy when they announced I have the all-time knockouts in the UFC compared to all the thousands of other guys who fought before me and all the big knockout artists that they had. It’s crazy that I’m the No. 1 guy now. It’s like crazy, especially how I used to approach the sport, not even really taking it seriously. To even be this far in my career is just so crazy.”

Derrick Lewis is currently on a three-fight win-streak, having recently beaten Alexey Oleynik by second-round knockout and Ilir Latifi and Blagoy Ivanov by decision. Prior to that, he was defeated by Junior dos Santos. That loss was preceded by his failed title bid against Cormier.

Other highlights of his UFC run include wins over top-flight foes like Alexander Volkov, Francis Ngannou, Travis Browne, Roy Nelson, and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Do you think Derrick Lewis will ever win the UFC heavyweight title?