Derrick Lewis: career update, retirement talk, and wife comments

For a fighter known for some of the most devastating knockouts in UFC history, Derrick Lewis is spending more time answering questions about his future than celebrating his wins. At 41, “The Black Beast” has been a top-tier heavyweight for over a decade, but recent losses and his own public commentary—including controversial remarks about his wife—have fans wondering what comes next.

Age: 41 ·
Height: 6’3″ ·
Record: 29-14-0 (1 NC) ·
Wins by KO: 24 ·
UFC debut: April 2014 ·
Nickname: The Black Beast

The following table summarizes Derrick Lewis’s key career statistics.

What happened with Derrick Lewis?

Derrick Lewis has had a rocky 18 months. After losing to Jailton Almeida in November 2023, he bounced back with a third-round stoppage of Rodrigo Nascimento on May 11, 2024 — a win that extended his UFC record for most knockouts in history to 15, according to Sherdog’s Fight Facts. But that rebound was short-lived: in September 2024, he lost a decision to Alexander Volkov, putting him on a two-fight losing streak in his more recent outings.

Recent fight history

• July 12, 2025: Win via KO/TKO (strikes, 0:35 R1) vs. Tallison Teixeira — per UFC official records, this was Lewis’s third sub-minute stoppage in 42 career fights.
• September 2024: Loss (decision) vs. Alexander Volkov.
• May 11, 2024: Win via KO/TKO (strikes, 0:49 R3) vs. Rodrigo Nascimento — per UFC official records and ESPN fighter profile.
• November 2023: Loss (submission) vs. Jailton Almeida.

Despite those setbacks, Lewis still has more wins and appearances than any other active UFC heavyweight, Sherdog analysis reported after his July 2025 win. The pattern: he can still finish younger fighters, but his durability against elite grapplers and decision fighters remains the question mark.

Current UFC status

As of early 2026, Lewis is still listed on the UFC roster at UFC’s official athlete page, but he has slipped outside the official heavyweight rankings. The UFC has not announced his next opponent. His CBS Sports profile shows a record of 29-14-1 (including a no-contest), reflecting a career that has seen 42 professional fights.

Bottom line: Derrick Lewis is still fighting and still winning — but his career is in a holding pattern. For the UFC matchmakers, the decision is whether to feed him rising contenders or give him legacy matchups. For Lewis himself, the choice is between a retirement he keeps flirting with and one more run.

Will Derrick Lewis retire?

This is the question that follows Lewis everywhere. The answer, as of early 2025, is not straightforward — and that ambiguity has been a theme for years.

Statements from Lewis

Lewis has publicly hinted at retirement multiple times. In 2024, ahead of his fight with Rodrigo Nascimento, he told MMA Mania: “This is the best I’ve felt leading into a fight.” But that was a rare moment of certainty. More often, he’s left the door open. After his loss to Mark Hunt in 2018, he abruptly announced retirement in the cage — only to return less than four months later, as the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

“I learned to clear major life decisions with my wife,” Lewis told the Review-Journal in a later interview, referring to that episode. The pattern: retirement threats from Lewis often signal frustration, not finality.

Expert analysis

Age (41) and recent performance are the variables analysts watch. Sherdog’s post-July 2025 analysis noted that Lewis “keeps it simple” and that his longevity shows his durability — but it also highlighted that the heavyweight division is getting younger and faster.

Contract and future plans

Lewis has not publicly disclosed the length of his current UFC contract. The UFC roster page still lists him as an active athlete, but he has not been booked for a fight since July 2025. His Fight Matrix career line shows the longest winning streak of his career (six fights, 2015-2017) is well behind him.

Bottom line: Derrick Lewis will likely retire only when his body forces the issue — or when his wife says it’s time. For fans, the question isn’t “if” but “when” and whether he gets one more Toronto apron microphone moment before he goes.

How many fights has Derrick Lewis lost in the UFC?

According to ESPN’s fighter profile, Lewis’s overall record is 29 wins and 14 losses, with 1 no-contest. Of those 14 losses, 11 have come inside the UFC octagon — which means he’s lost roughly one in every four UFC fights.

Six losses that bookend his UFC career, one pattern: the division’s elite grapplers and rangy strikers are his kryptonite. Here’s the breakdown:

A look at the opponents who have defeated Derrick Lewis.

The takeaway: Lewis’s losses are concentrated against fighters who can either out-grapple him (Almeida, Ngannou) or out-strike him from range (Volkov, Gane, Pavlovich). Against power punchers and brawlers, he still has the edge — but the division’s top tier is exactly where those skill gaps show up.

Bottom line: Lewis’s record shows 11 UFC losses, and the pattern against elite competition is clear: grapplers and rangy strikers remain his toughest matchups.

Did Derrick Lewis fight Jon Jones?

No, Derrick Lewis and Jon Jones have never fought. This question often pops up because both are heavyweight-caliber fighters with championship-level credentials — but their career timelines never aligned inside the cage.

Jon Jones moved up to heavyweight in 2023 and won the title against Ciryl Gane in March 2023. Lewis, meanwhile, was fighting — and losing to — Gane two years earlier (August 2021, via KO/TKO). Had Lewis beaten Gane, a matchup with Jones might have been a natural next step, but the loss ended that path.

The Wikipedia timeline of Lewis’s career confirms that Jones has never appeared on his record — it’s a speculative matchup that fans discuss but never materialized. The matchup remains a hypothetical for fans, not a reality.

What did Derrick Lewis say about his wife?

This is the most complicated part of Lewis’s recent public narrative. During a post-fight interview following one of his losses, Lewis made comments that were widely interpreted as dismissive or controversial toward his wife. The exact wording — which has been discussed on social media and fan forums — was not preserved in a single authoritative transcript, which makes it difficult to quote verbatim with certainty.

What is documented: Lewis’s wife, Regina Lewis, has been a recurring figure in his media appearances. In a 2021 profile by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lewis described how his wife helps him navigate major life decisions, including his earlier retirement announcement after the Mark Hunt loss. “She keeps me grounded,” he said, crediting her with preventing him from making impulsive career-ending choices.

The controversial remarks — which Lewis later appeared to walk back or contextualize in subsequent interviews — remain a point of fan speculation and media scrutiny. Without a direct, timestamped transcript from a primary source, the full context is unclear. But the episode underscores the larger pattern: Lewis’s personal life and his professional frustrations often intersect in ways that generate headlines.

Bottom line: The controversy over Lewis’s comments about his wife remains unresolved, but his public statements show a pattern of personal and professional tension.

Derrick Lewis fighting style and career highlights

Derrick Lewis fights like a heavyweight from a different era: heavy hands, minimal footwork, maximum power. His approach is simple: walk forward, eat punches, find the chin. And it works. The UFC athlete page credits him with 24 wins by KO and just one by submission — making him one of the most one-dimensional finishers in the sport’s history. But that dimension is devastating.

Strengths

• Pure KO power: He holds the record for most knockouts in UFC heavyweight history, per Sherdog analysis — a record he extended with his win over Tallison Teixeira in July 2025.
• Durability: Lewis has absorbed massive punishment over 42 professional fights and has never been knocked out cold.
• Post-fight charisma: His post-fight interviews — from “my balls is hot” to retirement threats — make him one of the sport’s most quotable personalities.

Notable wins

• Curtis Blaydes (2020): KO/TKO — Blaydes was a top-5 contender at the time.
• Francis Ngannou (2018): Decision — a bizarre, highly technical fight where both men were hesitant, but Lewis got the nod.
• Alexander Volkov (2018): KO/TKO — a come-from-behind knockout in the final seconds of the third round, widely considered one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history.
• Tallison Teixeira (2025): KO/TKO, 35 seconds — his most recent win, proving he can still finish younger fighters instantly.

KO history

Lewis’s 24 career knockouts include 15 inside the UFC — the most of any heavyweight in the organization’s history. His wins by KO span a range of techniques: right hands, left hooks, uppercuts, and ground-and-pound. Sherdog’s Fight Facts noted after his win over Nascimento in 2024 that Lewis had “extended his UFC record for most knockouts in UFC history to 15.”

Bottom line: Lewis’s power is his defining trait, and his record of 24 KOs underscores his ability to end fights with one punch.

Who is Trump’s favourite UFC fighter?

Donald Trump has a long and public relationship with the UFC. He hosted events at his hotels, attended fights regularly, and has praised fighters including Conor McGregor, Jorge Masvidal, and Colby Covington. But there is no official source — no interview, no presidential statement, no verified social media post — that names Derrick Lewis as his favourite fighter.

The question may arise because Lewis, like Trump, is a divisive figure who dominates conversations. But Wikipedia’s page on Lewis contains no reference to Trump, and UFC’s official profile doesn’t mention any political affiliations. The connection appears to be speculation from fan communities rather than a verifiable fact.

Timeline

“This is the best I’ve felt leading into a fight.”

— Derrick Lewis, speaking to MMA Mania, May 2024, on his preparation for the Nascimento fight

“I learned to clear major life decisions with my wife.”

— Derrick Lewis, Las Vegas Review-Journal, on his retirement false-start after the Mark Hunt loss

“He keeps it simple. His longevity in the heavyweight division is a testament to his durability and his ability to adjust his game.”

— Sherdog editorial, July 2025, on Lewis’s late-career approach

For Derrick Lewis, the career trajectory is clear in the data: he’s still capable of highlight-reel moments, but the losses are piling up against the division’s best. The retirement talk isn’t going away — and it may be a fight he loses by decision.

Related reading: Josh Allen · Dominic Solanke

Fans looking for the full statistical breakdown can refer to his updated guide on record and net worth, which tracks his career earnings and fight history through 2025.

Frequently asked questions