Derrick Lewis may be 40, but he feels better today than he did when he was 30 years old.
‘The Black Beast’ will be back in action this Saturday night when the UFC heads back to Nashville for a loaded Fight Night card headlined by a heavyweight clash between Lewis and Brazilian knockout artist Tallison Teixeira.
It will be Lewis’ 30th walk to the Octagon, but despite having more than a decade of fights under his belt, the New Orleans native says he’s feeling better than ever.
“Actually, I feel better now than I did 10 years ago,” Lewis told MMA Junkie after turning the big 4-0 in February. “Like, no BS. It’s just a weird feeling because I feel very healthy. I can sit down and I can get up real quick. You know—like the last couple of years, when I sit down, I got to make noise to stand up. Yeah. So I’m not doing none of that. So I’m good.”
Can Derrick Lewis snap Tallison Teixeira’s undefeated streak?
Lewis has seen his fair share of struggles over the years. Still, he heads to Music City having won two of his last three fights, including a brutal 33-second KO of Marcos Rogério de Lima at UFC 291 and a third-round finish against Rodrigo Nascimento in May.
However, ‘The Black Beast’ will face a tough test when he meets Teixeira.
Aside from being 15 years younger than his opponent, ‘Xicao’ goes into his second promotional appearance riding back-to-back first-round knockouts, including a vicious TKO over Justin Tafa in his UFC debut earlier this year.
Overall, Teixeira is 8-0 in his mixed martial arts career, and boasts an impressive 100% finish rate.
