Derrick Lewis could be headed to a middleweight division near you.
In a photo provided earlier this week by strength and conditioning coach, Chris Hernandez, it appears as if the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight contender has lost enough weight to compete a few weight divisions down. It’s quite incredible to see.
Check it out below (via UFC fighter Terrance McKinney):
Now it could be the shirt or the angle of the photo, but Lewis legit looks like he’s capable of cutting down to 185 pounds. This is very surprising considering the well-known diet of “Black Beast” and the fact that he’s one of the biggest heavyweight fighters on the UFC roster today. We’ve seen Lewis make adjustments in camp before to help with his cardio and overall physique, but he looks to be on an entirely new level this time around.
Lewis, 37, is coming off back-to-back knockout losses to Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich so maybe he felt he needed to make a change heading into the new year. “Black Beast” is currently scheduled to headline an upcoming UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 4 against surging heavyweight contender Sergey Spivak. The two were originally scheduled to meet at UFC Vegas 65 this past November, but Lewis was yanked from the card last-minute after being rushed to the hospital.
Fight fans will have to wait and see what Lewis looks like when he steps inside of the Octagon next month and if his changes outside of the cage will lead to prolonged success in 2023.