The recurring ailment for Derrick Lewis that has prevented him from performing at his peak consistently in the UFC has been his bad back. As recently as his last fight against Francis Ngannou, Lewis cited back issues for why he was unable to give the fans the performance they expected. Now with a reported co-main event bout for UFC 229 against Alexander Volkov on the horizon, Lewis spoke with Luke Thomas Monday on the MMA Hour to provide an update on the status of his back.
“Right now, it’s doing pretty good,” Lewis said. The shots that I took, they said it should last, like, 10 to 12 months. It wasn’t stem cells or nothing like that. They shot me like 20 times in one spot. It was some type of steroid.”
After assuring listeners that the steroid was given the OK by USADA, Lewis then went on to share how he is feeling post-injection:
“I feel good,” Lewis stated. “Yeah, I feel real mobile right now.”
Remarkably, despite Lewis’s back problems, he has managed to go 11-3 in the UFC, and has won eight of his last nine fights. Lewis’s success in spite of his back problems have even impressed the Black Beast himself:
“All of my fights…especially all of my UFC fights, I never been in there without any kind of impingement, in pain (in my back,” Lewis said. “It just amazes me that I made it this far with all of the pain that I had to endure during all my fights.”
The pain Derrick Lewis has experienced in his back is not limited to fight night, it has hampered his training as well:
“Every camp (has been difficult), especially at the beginning. We had to take a 10-minute break and stuff like that, and stretch out, and try to warm my back up. And it’s always affected every camp I ever had, especially in the UFC.”
But Lewis assuages all doubts that his back woes will reemerge to the point where he is forced to pull out of his UFC 229 bout with Volkov. Lewis states that this is not an option:
“We’re taking it real slow because there ain’t no way I’m gonna pull out (a) fight again. I’ve pulled out in my past, and I don’t plan on doing it this fight right here.”
Do you think we’ll ever see Derrick Lewis reach his full potential in the UFC?
