Derrick Lewis Wants Stipe Miocic Next, ‘I Can Get My Fans Their Money Back From Gane Fight’

Derrick Lewis has his eyes set on just one thing.
That’s not title shots or even a big pay-per-view main event. All he wants is for his next opponent to be Stipe Miocic.

“I feel like I don’t have to prove anything and that’s one of the reasons why I want to fight Stipe next,” Lewis said on The MMA Hour.

“I believe that would be a great matchup for the fans and for both of us… It’d be a new face, new blood, and I believe I’d be a heavy underdog in this fight. I can get my fans their money back from the Gane fight.”

Lewis resurrected his career at the UFC’s last event of 2021, a brutal knockout of Chris Daukaus at UFC Vegas 45 in December.

Prior to that triumph, Lewis fought Ciryl Gane for an interim heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 265 in Lewis’ hometown of Houston. In a bout that he dominated from the start, Gane would put Lewis away in the third round.

Lewis said he was under a lot of pressure coming into his battle with Gane, but believes the follow-up fight with Daukaus helped redeem him.

“This last fight helped me,” Lewis told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “It was a big experience difference and I just wanted to finally go into a fight week and not put pressure on myself, and it felt great. I plan on doing that for the rest of my career — just go out there and have fun.”

Lewis seeks solace from those who doubt him.

“I’ve got a lot of people rooting against me, a lot of family members, a lot of haters,” Lewis explained. “I’ve got to use that energy to really push myself forward, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”