Derrick Lewis says Waldo Cortes-Acosta is a style he’s seen before.
Lewis (29-12 MMA, 20-10 UFC) takes on red-hot heavyweight Cortes-Acosta (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC 324 (Paramount+) main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Lewis is no stranger to facing rising contenders. He sees similarities between Cortes-Acosta and former opponent Roy Nelson, whom he beat by split decision in July 2016.
“Once again, I’m in this situation again,” Lewis told MMA Junkie Radio. “But to me, I don’t think it’s anything special that I haven’t seen before. He’s somewhat of a favoritism of Roy Nelson, the way his style is. He reminds me of Roy Nelson a little bit.
“For him going against me, outside looking in, he hasn’t fought anyone like me. I’m like completely different to any other heavyweight, any other fighter period that’s in the UFC. It might look sometimes like I might be tired or gassed out or whatever, but I promise you I still give it my all, and I’m fresh.”
Just like Cortes-Acosta, Lewis could find himself in the title picture with heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall out of commission due to injuries in both eyes after UFC 321.
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“Yeah, I’m open. That would be cool to get an interim title,” Lewis said. “It seems like there’s always something like this always happening whenever this guy is involved in the division. He always messes up everything for everyone. Delays and delays, different opponents falling out. I don’t know, it just seems weird that this keeps happening to the heavyweight division and every division he goes to. I believe Jones should have still been the champion right now.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 324: Derrick Lewis compares Waldo Cortes-Acosta to Roy Nelson
