Derrick Lewis fell short in his bid for the heavyweight crown but nevertheless signed a new contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He wants nothing less than to return to title contention, and the first step toward that objective comes in the form of a showdown with Junior dos Santos in the UFC Fight Night 146 headliner on Saturday in Wichita, Kansas.
If Lewis wants to maintain his spot in the Top 5, he cannot afford another less. Here are some of the numbers that have come to define “The Black Beast” during his career:
18: Victories by knockout or technical knockout. In his last win by knockout against former Bellator MMA champion Alexander Volkov, Lewis was down two rounds entering the final stanza. However, in the closing seconds of the fight, his fists found their target, dropped Volkov and ended the fight at 4:49 of Round 3.
1: Month after his fight with Volkov, Lewis found himself challenging Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title. Prior to that encounter, he compiled three straight wins. Unfortunately, Lewis could not sustain his momentum and submitted to a rear-naked choke in the second round.
6: Consecutive wins in the UFC, representing the longest such streak of his career. Lewis went undefeated between UFC 192, where he knocked out Viktor Pesta, and UFC Fight Night 105, where he put away Travis Browne. In between, he beat Damian Grabowski, Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson and Shamil Abdurakhimov.
46: Seconds needed to beat Jay Peche in what remains Lewis’ fastest finish to date. It went down at an Immortal Kombat Fighting event on Sept, 3, 2011 in Spring, Texas.
20: Significant strikes landed in a unanimous decision over Francis Ngannou at UFC 226. Ngannou landed just 11.
5: Post-fight bonuses banked. Lewis earned “Performance of the Night” awards in stoppages of Gonzaga, Volkov and Marcin Tybura. In addition, he has garnered “Fight of the Night” awards in his battles with Browne and Mark Hunt.
7: First-round finishes to his credit. Lewis likes to make his presence felt early in fights. His list of first-round victims: Peche, Gonzaga, Grabowski, Alex Flores, Taylor Herbert, Jack May and Carlos Augusto Inocente Filho.
51: Percent striking accuracy in the UFC. Of the 822 significant strikes he has attempted, Lewis has landed 419.
53: Significant strikes landed against Ruan Potts at UFC 184, representing his highest output in a single UFC fight. Lewis won by second-round TKO.
5: Takedowns scored in UFC competition. Lewis is not known for his wrestling, but he has tried taking down his opponents 21 times inside the Octagon. He completed takedowns against May, Filho, Grabowski, Abdurakhimov and Tybura.
6: Losses in his career. Lewis suffered setbacks to Hunt, Cormier, Tony Johnson, Matt Mitrione and Shawn Jordan (twice).
34: Years of age. Lewis was born in New Orleans on Feb. 7, 1985. He now fights out of Houston, where his family moved in 1999.