Marcos Rogerio de Lima wants another go-round with Derrick Lewis and is confident the “The Black Beast” won’t be able to replicate his performance at UFC 291.
De Lima, who now faces last-minute fill-in Junior Tafa at UFC 298 after Junior replaced his brother Justin Tafa for Saturday’s card, said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast that he still needs to rematch Lewis after losing the first match in just 33 seconds in July 2023, and he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he beats Lewis nine times out of 10.
“I was in my best shape that night,” de Lima said. “There was the altitude factor, but I went there early and adapted well. I had a good camp and used everything I had to be able to win the fight. He went there and threw that knee, and that saved him from eating a lot of punches, because I was well prepared that night. I see everything that happened as a learning experience. When there’s learning, there are no losses. I’ll continue my path and I’m sure we will meet again, because that fight didn’t even start.”
De Lima has finished the likes of Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell throughout his 10-7 run in the UFC. The only name out of those 17 opponents he would like to rematch is Lewis, because, he said, “people wanted to see that fight, and they haven’t seen it yet.” Lewis landed a stunning flying knee just seconds into the match that knocked the Brazilian down, then followed up with punches to force referee Dan Miragliotta to end the bout.
“It was a difficult moment for me, because I trained so much for that fight,” de Lima said. “I was injured when I took that fight, but I took it because I asked the UFC for it. It was tough to swallow that loss, because I didn’t even fight.
“The only way he’d beat me would be doing something crazy, a lucky punch, because I was so well-prepared for that fight.”
De Lima said he plans to walk through every single man the UFC puts in front of him until the Lewis rematch is booked.
“The lesson here is to start a little slower, and don’t let the emotions take over,” Lima said. “I get better as the fight progresses, so I have to start slow and be less emotional, and then go for a fight.”
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