UFC 226: Derrick Lewis says UFC should cut him if Francis Ngannou fight goes the distance

Of Stipe Miocic’s last five opponents, Francis Ngannou was the only Heavyweight to go the distance with the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 265-pound champion, losing a unanimous decision to him at UFC 220.

According to Derrick Lewis, though, Miocic could have finished “The Predator” if he chose to but decided to hold back his onslaught.

“The thing about that fight is Stipe could’ve finished that fight a long time ago,” Lewis said during a recent interview on UFC Unfiltered. “The ref should’ve stopped the fight a long time ago when Stipe was on top of him,” he added.

“The guy didn’t throw any punches after the second round, he didn’t throw anything else and once Stipe got on top of him and started hitting him, you know, if I was in that same situation, I’m not gonna just pepper shot him, I’m gonna let my full load out on him on his face. No homo.”

Lewis will get his chance to back up his statement as he is booked to face off against his online rival at the upcoming UFC 226 pay-per-view (PPV) event on July 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The two bruising heavyweights have a collective highlight reel of knockout victories, so “The Black Beast” is confident their big man showdown won’t go the distance. In fact, Lewis put it all on the line by saying if it somehow does see the final bell, then he needs to be cut.

“It can’t go bell-to-bell, there ain’t no way. If it goes bell-to-bell, I need to be cut,” concluded the outspoken striker.

Since 2011, only one of Derrick’s fights have gone the distance, losing a split decision to Roy Nelson back in 2016. As for Ngannou, his fight against Miocic is only the second fight to see the final bell, first since 2013.

That said, there’s a pretty good chance someone is getting finished in this much-anticipated battle of big men. And guesses as to whom?