'It's never enough': Derrick Lewis on family drama, love from fans and fighting near 40 - ESPN

It would be lazy to simplify Derrick Lewis' journey to the UFC as the clichéd tale of the Black kid who had to fight his way out of the impoverished confines of New Orleans to escape the fate of incarceration or an early grave. That story is told far too often when it comes to Black athletes. The success story that isn't told about Black athletes enough is the one where they overcome a feeling of guilt for their accomplishments when the people around them act like they are owed something.

«I think I made it,» Lewis said uneasily. «There is a lot of stuff going on in my personal life that people don't know about, but I am very comfortable with my life right now. I'm fortunate that my life turned out this way after all that I've been through.»

He was speaking a little over a week away from competing in his 41st fight as a mixed martial artist. And when the lights go down Saturday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and Houston rap legend Fat Pat's song «Tops Drop» pulsates through the arena, one of the UFC's biggest cult heroes will make his way to the Octagon to a rousing ovation.

Everyone loves «The Black Beast,» right?

«I love my fans, but there are a lot of haters out there,» said Lewis (27-12, 18-10 UFC), among the most beloved figures in the UFC with over 2.2 million followers on Instagram. His main event bout Saturday against Rodrigo Nascimento on UFC Fight Night (ESPN+, 7 p.m. E.T.) will be the second fight of an eight-fight deal he inked with the UFC in 2023. Never mind that he has gone 2-5 in his past seven fights and has never tasted championship gold. The combination of earth-rattling knockout power and extraordinarily dry humor has turned him into a fan favorite.

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