Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fans narrowly missed out on a potential Heavyweight banger.
Two-time UFC Heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis is set to return next month against surging Dominican
contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta on the main card of UFC 324, which takes place inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But according to “The Black Beast,” that wasn’t the fight the UFC originally wanted.
Lewis revealed on his new podcast, The Beast and Cowboy, that he was offered a bout against kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven — who recently departed GLORY and has been linked to a move into mixed martial arts (MMA) — but the former longtime champion turned the fight down
Maybe because of this possible boxing opportunity.
“Shit, I’ve been trying to get a fight damn near every month since July,” Lewis said. “My last fight ended in 30 seconds, so I thought they were going to give me something quick. They told me, ‘Nah, we got something big for you. Don’t worry, just sit and wait.’”
That “big” fight, however, didn’t materialize.
“They were figuring out who it was gonna be,” Lewis continued. “First it was supposed to be some dude from GLORY Kickboxing — the champion. What’s his name? Rico Verhoeven. It was supposed to be against him, but he turned the fight down.”
If true, it strongly suggests the UFC is actively trying to bring Verhoeven into the promotion — and had enough confidence to match him immediately against a proven Top 10 veteran. Lewis, after all, owns the most knockouts in UFC history (16) and has competed 30 times at Heavyweight — second all time.
Lewis also revealed he attempted to book a rematch with Sergei Pavlovich, who knocked him out in under a minute back in 2023, but the Russian declined as well.
In the end, Cortes-Acosta was the only man to say yes — a logical outcome given that “Salsa Boy” has been calling for a fight with Lewis for over a year.
Lewis enters UFC 324 riding a two-fight win streak, most recently starching Tallison Teixeira in just 35 seconds at UFC Nashville (watch highlights).
To checkout the latest UFC 324 fight card and rumors click here.
