“I did a lot of things whenever I wasn’t sober”- Derrick Lewis reflects upon his life before he started doing MMA


“I did a lot of things whenever I wasn’t sober”- Derrick Lewis reflects upon his life before he started doing MMA

Derrick Lewis

Derrick Lewis lost the fight for the interim heavyweight championship to Ciryl Gane at the main event of UFC 265. The fight took place in Lewis’ hometown of Houston, Texas, but Gane dominated him over the course of three rounds, and Lewis had to taste defeat in front of his home crowd.

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Lewis talked about what went wrong in some interviews after the fight, and he admitted the pressure of fighting for the belt, and that too in his hometown got to him, he said, “I was frustrated to fight. It was overwhelming to fight in front of the whole town with the pressure all on me. I put all the pressure on myself. It would have been about 13 years since my release from prison and my winning the UFC Heavyweight championship. I put all the pressure on myself. It was very nerve-wreaking. I was under pressure till the day of the fight.

“Being the champion would have meant a lot”- Derrick Lewis was very disappointed with his performance at UFC 265

Ciryl Gane vs Derrick Lewis ufc 265
Ciryl Gane vs Derrick Lewis ufc 265

Lewis served his time in prison, and when he got out, he started training in MMA. His life took a different turn, he is very grateful for things he has, but he had to deal with that pressure before his title fight. He said, “The reason why the pressure was so tough for that fight right there was because it was the same day, exact day, that I got out of prison.

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So, it’s like I put a lot of pressure on myself, and it was just like a crazy, crazy thing that I wanted for my legacy or whatever. Being all the way at the bottom of my life then being the champion of the world would have just meant a lot at that time. I did a lot of things whenever I wasn’t sober, agreed to and did, and regretted it later,” Lewis said. “It is what it is. … I did a lot of stupid stuff in my life, and I continued doing what I’m trying to learn from.”

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