A couple of weeks after Derrick Lewis unexpectedly retired in the Octagon following a TKO loss to Mark Hunt, the heavyweight fighter has backtracked on his decision.
Lewis had revealed to Brian Stann in his post-fight interview at UFC Fight Night 110 in Auckland, New Zealand that ongoing back issue were a big reason for his announcement, but in hindsight, ‘The Black Beast’ admits that it was a “heat of the moment” decision.
“We’re just hoping that we don’t have to get surgery, because I thought about it a little bit, and it’s not going to be my last fight,” Lewis told Ariel Helwani on ‘The MMA Hour’ show this week. “I’m going to try to get back in there as soon as I can.”
“Two days before [the fight], my back was just real sore. It was real sore and I knew — I was just hoping that I could work through it. I got a massage the day before and it just made everything even worse. And as the fight went on, it was just getting sorer and sorer.
“That was the second time it ever happened in a fight. The first time, I still won in the third round. I knocked the guy out in the third round whenever that happened the first time. And it happened again in the Mark Hunt fight, and it was like, damn, I couldn’t move at all. The best thing I could do was just stand there and just take it, because it couldn’t move anymore.”
Lewis’ loss to Hunt had brought an end to a six-fight winning streak, but he’s still ranked No.7 in the division and another win would put him right back in the mix.
