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Derrick Lewis did not realize what he was getting himself into. 2023 did not close out how ‘The Black Beast’ had hoped. After Lewis landed a flying knee knockout at UFC 291 to bounce back from a losing skid, he answered a short-notice call in the hopes of his first winning streak in years. The assignment was against the charging Jailton Almeida, who was left without an opponent for the UFC Sao Paulo main event on this day, November 4, two years ago after the late withdrawal of Curtis Blaydes. Lewis saved the day, but he would not have agreed to do so had he been presented with all the facts… Derrick Lewis claimed he was ‘tricked’ into accepting UFC Sao Paulo main event on short notice The event at Ginasio do Ibirapuera marked the UFC’s first trip to Sao Paulo in four years. One man who never intended to join the Octagon in traveling down to that city or any other in Brazil for that matter was Derrick Lewis. A few days before the event, ‘The Black Beast’ revealed that Brazil had long been on his blacklist for fight locations owing to the tax rate. Unfortunately, he had accepted the Almeida fight without checking where it was. “A few weeks ago we got a call about this guy and I just agreed straight away,” Lewis told FOX Sports Australia. “I didn’t know the fight was in Brazil though. It was only after accepting that they told me. “I’d always said to my manager I would never fight in Brazil because of the taxes being so bad. So I got tricked into accepting this fight. “I said I didn’t want to fight here and, since arriving, nothin’ has changed,” he continued. “I can’t wait to go home. I’m basically fighting for them (the government) right now. I’m not getting anything out of it.” It ended up being a less-than-fruitful trip for Lewis, who was dominated on the ground for five rounds en route to a one-sided decision loss. With that, he was unable to extend his record tally of knockouts in the UFC. Note to all fighters — check the location. Derrick Lewis wants to fight UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall Lewis has rebounded in style since that setback against Almeida. ‘The Black Beast’ has won two main events in a row, the first of which saw him knock out Rodrigo Nascimento in St. Louis last year. Then, this past July, Lewis finished Tallison Teixeira in 35 seconds after a controversial stoppage from Jason Herzog. Before his most recent triumph, the UFC’s knockout king revealed that he hasn’t given up hope of another title shot and would like to throw down with reigning champion Tom Aspinall before he departs the sport. “That’d be good to fight him before everything is said and done with,” Lewis told MMA Junkie regarding Aspinall. “I have a couple fights left on my contract, and I would love to finish out my contract. That would be great if I can. It’d be good,” he added.
