HOUSTON – Derrick Lewis is walking back his prediction of a first-round knockout against Ilir Latifi at UFC 247. Maybe.
After stating on Wednesday that he hopes to finish the fight against Latifi (14-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) early in the opening frame, Lewis (22-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) rolled out something he believes to be a little more realistic.
More often than not, Lewis lives up to his predictions for knockout wins. After going to the scorecards in his previous bout, though, he’s decided to use some reverse psychology on himself.
“I probably win by decision because if I say knockout then it ain’t going to happen,” Lewis told MMA Junkie at UFC 247 media day. “I’ll win by decision. It’ll probably almost be a draw. It’s going to be controversial. It’ll be like I shoulda lost, but they still give me the win.”
The matchup between Lewis and Latifi is rather unique in the sense “The Black Beast” is a top ranked heavyweight and former title challenger, while Latifi is on a two-fight skid and making his divisional debut.
Lewis said he was happy to take the fight, though, but with a win will be looking ahead in the rankings. With the title being held up as the division waits for a Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier trilogy to finish, and a potential Jon Jones entry in the weight class, Lewis said there’s two names who could make sense.
“It would be great to have probably somebody like Curtis Blaydes, maybe a rematch with Francis (Ngannou),” Lewis said. “We’ll see. But ‘DC’ and Stipe, I don’t know what’s going on with that. They don’t even have a date yet. But, I believe that if Jon Jones want to fight heavyweight than I believe ‘DC’ is probably going to retire and Stipe will probably want to fight Jones because there’s more money.”
UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+
Derrick Lewis makes comical UFC 247 prediction change, sees 'controversial' win