Derrick Lewis Says He Would Be A Bad Matchup For Stipe Miocic

Derrick Lewis says he’s back and ready to put himself in contention for a UFC heavyweight title shot when he faces Marcin Tybura on Feb. 18 at UFC Fight Night 126.

Not so long ago, Lewis was considered to be just one fight away from the title after putting together a winning streak of 6, but when he suffered a loss to Mark Hunt he temporarily called time on his career so he could recover from a crippling back problem.

After having his return false start back at UFC 216 when he had to pull out of his scheduled bout with Fabricio Werdum, Lewis’ latest attempt to step back into the UFC Octagon will come happen on Feb. 18 when he faces Poland’s #1 heavyweight, Tybura.

Speaking on the Slip n’ Dip Podcast this week, Lewis gave an update on his return to full fitness.

“My preparation and everything has been going real good,” Lewis said. “My health is good right now and my conditioning is good. I’m just getting over a cold right now, but everything is good.”

“My back, I’d say it’s 95-percent right now, about 95,” Lewis said. “We started doing treatment on it and everything.”

Lewis believes that a win will put him right back in the title picture and that he’s realistically only an impressive performance away from challenging UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for the gold.

“This is a big opportunity for myself, the opportunity is still there,” Lewis said. “The division is wide open and I still believe I’m a couple of fights away, maybe even one fight away from the title.

“I just need to get an impressive win over this guy and then probably one more fight after that and I’ll be fighting for the title soon.”

Despite Miocic setting a record for three consecutive title defences earlier month with a win over Francis Ngannou, Lewis believes he could be the man to put an end to his dominance. According to Lewis, he would be he tough stylistic matchup and that he would give Miocic all sorts of problems.

“Yeah I believe he’s right there where they say, he’s already got all-time great status right now,” Lewis said. “I believe my fighting style versus his fighting style, that’s going to be a bad matchup for him.

“Especially if he’s trying to lay and pray the whole fight. That’s where I really get at my best, when someone is trying to hold me down. I really just try to save all my energy and then explode wherever I can.”

Watch the full interview here: