Derrick Lewis suffered a setback in his most recent match against Sergei Pavolvich because it might have been called too soon. The No. 7 heavyweight appeared to believe that to be the case when he publicly criticised referee Dan Miragliotta and said he was no longer welcome at his fights.
They appear to have missed the most recent fight. Oh wow, I don’t know if Derrick still has it when they stop the battle early and do this and that. Come on man, I mean. Whatever his name is, Dan Miragliotta hatched a plot against me. He served as the referee in my two most recent losses, so if he does so again in this fight, I’m going to “Nah, I don’t want him,” you might say.
“They will attempt to put him in the cage again, and when he says, “Fighter, you ready, fighter,” I will reply that I am not ready. Herb Dean won’t be officiating any of my other fights, so we’ll need him or someone else up there. I don’t mean to offend him; I’m sure he’s a lovely guy, but I don’t want him to officiate any of my fights.”
Serghei Spivac and Lewis will square off in the main event of UFC Fight Night 218. Miragliotta may or may not draw the assignment, but if Lewis declines to engage in combat with him serving as the referee, it will be gripping and unheard of.
Derrick Lewis responds to Daniel Cormier’s criticism
“They must believe my work ethic to be insufficient, I assume. They claimed, among other things, that I wasn’t taking the combat game or myself seriously enough. It is not their fault. I suppose I’ll have to go out there and prove to everyone that I can still do this. I may still be in the top five. To me, what DC says is completely irrelevant. Though I suppose you have to say that each time your cholesterol is high, I’ve heard that crap before. Fk him.”
Lewis is 5-3 in his last eight fights and has dropped his last two fights, but both defeats came at the hands of some of the greatest heavyweights in the UFC. Cormier predicted that Lewis will prevail in his UFC Fight Night 218 contest, despite the fact that he thought his old opponent would be finished given where he is in the division right now.