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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

UFC heavyweight Derrick Lewis is one of the most fearsome fighters of all time. ‘The Black Beast’ has a reputation of striking big whenever he enters the cage and fills his opponent’s heart with fear. He also jointly holds the record for the highest number of knockouts in UFC history.

Currently, he is preparing for his high octane clash against Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title. Although, he was targeted for the undisputed championship match against ‘The Predator’ Francis Ngannou at first.

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As the relationship between Ngannou and the UFC management soured, the promotion saw no other alternative but pushed for an interim title fight. Gane is the biggest gainer of this development as he now competes for a title in just 3 years into his MMA career.

Coming back to Lewis, ‘The Black Beast’ has stepped up his preparations for the fight. In the latest video of the UFC 265 embedded vlog series, we could see the American training in Eleanor Tinsley Park, Houston, Texas. His head coach Bob Perez explained Lewis‘ training schedule.

via Imago

The coach mentioned some conditioning sessions for ‘The Black Beast’. He had already finished his sparring session and hard drills. In scorching heat, the team did sessions of running up the hill and down. But while they were on it, a certain thing happened that got Lewis mad.

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While they were running upwards, a cyclist coming downwards stopped their momentum. The cyclist swiftly passed by them. Since the walking path was narrow, it could have hit Lewis. In the video, we could see Lewis getting frustrated. He even yelled, “He’s supposed to slow down.”

The path towards the championship for Derrick Lewis

Lewis (25-7) has been unstoppable in his last few fights. Such has been his dominance that he has swept aside two of his last four opponents by knockouts. The other two wins have come via dominating decision wins.

His last opponent, the dangerous Curtis Blaydes, had to withstand Lewis’ explosive power game. ‘The Black Beast’ made quick work of the fellow American via KO inside the first round at UFC Fight Night 185. Prior to that, he put an end to Alexey Oleynik’s vigil via TKO inside the first round at UFC Fight Night 174.

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Although, he would be wary of the game possessed by Gane. The latter has remained unbeaten throughout his MMA career and also throughout his Muay Thai career. It will be interesting to see with what game plan Lewis comes out with against ‘Bon Gamin’.

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