Derrick Lewis Suggests His KO Punch At UFC 229 Was Worth ‘$1 Million’
Derrick Lewis may want to insure his right hand. Especially if it’s worth $1 million.
Lewis was in attendance for media day Thursday (Oct. 18, 2018) in preparation for UFC 230. “The Black Beast” is fresh off his remarkable come-from-behind knockout of Alexander Volkov just two weeks ago at UFC 229.
When a media member asked Lewis to estimate how much his KO of Volkov was worth to him, he had a simple idea.
“It’s probably a million, probably about a million.”
In recent years Lewis has established himself as one of the more likable and charismatic fighters in the UFC. However, when Joe Rogan asked “The Black Beast” one question, his popularity exploded. Gaining over one million social media followers in the process.
Lil Wayne even gave “The Black Beast” a shout out on Twitter:
I’m the new biggest Black Beast fan!! That man a dawg! Slime wild!
— Lil Wayne WEEZY F (@LilTunechi) October 7, 2018
For Lewis through, it’s always been about the Benjamins. He is set to make more at UFC 230 than he has all year already. Lewis raked in $260,000 at UFC 226, $320,000 (plus a performance of the night bonus) at UFC 229 and roughly in the $300,000 range at UFC Austin (a performance of night bonus included).
That’s a total of about $880,000 heading into UFC 230, so he believes he’ll make more than that in one fight:
“It’s probably more than I made this year already,” Lewis said.
Lewis, 33, is usually all tongue and cheek. Rarely does “The Black Beast” take things too seriously. The way he works the media is priceless. Lewis did have a more honest suggestion for Daniel Cormier. He urged the heavyweight champ not to take him lightly.
“Not really the UFC, just DC believes that,” said Lewis, who added that he will be 100 percent for the title fight, despite a hard bout against Volkov. “He’s thinking it’s gonna be an easy fight for his self. But go ahead and think that.
“It’s just crazy that I even made it this far with the type of training I’ve been putting in before each and every fight. I’m serious. I don’t stay in the gym all day like all my opponents do. I stay for 30 minutes, 35 minutes — and five minutes on my phone posting memes and stuff. But this camp right here, I’ve been really at the gym all day long.”
Lewis will challenge Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
