What Is UFC’s Derrick Lewis’ Walk-Around Weight? How Many Pounds Does He Cut?

Derrick Lewis has often raised eyebrows in the past due to the transformation that he displayed over the course of his UFC career. The #11 ranked heavyweight prospect has had quite a bit of trouble with his weight. He often talked about his cardio, especially stairmaster, regime, and the diet plans that helped him manage his weight before the fights. 

As ‘The Black Beast’ gets ready for his next fight in the Octagon, the curiosity around his weight rises in the fighting realm. Today, let’s take a deep dive and get to know everything there is to know about the heavyweight’s struggles with weight and of course, find out how much he normally weighs.

How much does Derrick Lewis weigh?

Ahead of his 12th main event appearance in the UFC, Derrick Lewis stated in a pre-fight press conference, “I’m feeling great right now. I actually really feel like this is my prime. Whenever I was in my 20s, early 30s, I didn’t feel this good. Now I’m feeling fantastic right now.” The remarks were interesting as ahead of his UFC 291 clash against Marcos Rogerio De Lima in 2023, Lewis had shared a scary story from his past attempts to make the weight limit for his bout against Serghei Spivac at UFC Vegas 68.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, he confessed, “I blacked out, my coaches had to carry me, make sure I stayed conscious, and I just didn’t have any energy the rest of the week. I cut like 25 pounds in three days, not eating, just drinking water.” The UFC heavyweight limit for non-title bouts is 266 lbs, as such, cutting 25 pounds to make the weight limit implies that Lewis was walking around at close to 290 lbs. 

The drastic weight cut highlights the physical toll fighters endure to meet the demands of their weight class, and especially in the case of Lewis, it underscores the fact that even heavyweights have to be careful with their physique as weight-cutting can have devastating consequences on their bodies. Now, Lewis has toned down his walking around weight to close to approximately 276 lbs, a far cry from his approaching almost 290 lbs in the past.

While his weight had been a concern in the past, Derrick Lewis has made some changes to his diet and exercise routines to ensure he doesn’t have to struggle to get to the weigh-in scale in the UFC. At the UFC on ESPN 56 media day, he stated, “I’m less than 10 pounds away from making my weight already.”

But there was a time when Lewis’ weight cut didn’t go the expected way. Well, he felt like Lady Death was on his doorstep during that time. Still wondering what happened? Well, join us and see for yourself!

When Derrick Lewis’ weight cut went horribly wrong

Before his fight against Sergey Spivak, back in 2023, Lewis had to drop about 25 pounds in just 3 days. And most of it was achieved via fasting. ‘The Black Beast’ revealed, “The last fight, I actually passed out just before weigh-ins. I blacked out, my coaches had to carry me, make sure I stayed conscious, and I just didn’t have any energy the rest of the week.”

Lewis continued, “I cut like 25 pounds in three days, not eating, just drinking water—probably just a little something to eat. It was a big eye-opener and it was in the back of my head during the fight. I felt like I actually died, and I was thinking about all of the other fighters who went through that—they blacked out, came back, and couldn’t fight, they didn’t let the fighter fight. Good thing it happened at the [UFC Performance Institute] and they gave me everything I needed to get up and walk out of there. It was a very scary moment.”

Despite losing 25 pounds and almost facing death, ‘The Black Beast’ wasn’t able to get a win against Spivak. The loss came within the first round when the ‘Polar Bear’ tapped Lewis out with an arm triangle. Now, ‘The Black Beast’ is all set to land against Jhonata Diniz at the main event for UFC Edmonton. Needless to say, Lewis would try his best to claim a victory against the undefeated Brazilian heavyweight.

But will his walkaround weight hinder his performance at Edmonton? Who do you think would win the bout? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.