Undefeated lightweight prospect Malik Lewis (5-0) thought a friend was playing with him when he was told he’d be fighting on Dana White’s Contender Series this year.
“I was sitting in my house, in my living room. I think I was either watching some Youtube video or playing a video game, and my friend looks over at me, one of my training partners, my roommate, and he’s like ‘hey you’re fighting for the Contender Series September 13,'” Lewis recalled, speaking to Cageside Press in a recent interview about how he got the call to appear on DWCS.
The immediate reaction from Lewis was disbelief. “I was like bro, quit bullsh*tting!”
Lewis then grabbed his phone and found that it was blowing up, with messages from his manager and coaches. “I was like ‘I guess I am fighting on the Contender Series. Let’s go!'”
Lewis had been telling people since the start of the year that he would fight on the show, without actually knowing for sure.
“The crazy thing is, I can’t make this up, I’ve been telling people ‘I’m going to fight for the Contender Series, I’m going to fight for the Contender Series.’ I’ve just been saying that, from like the beginning of this year I’ve been telling people ‘I’m going to get into the UFC this year, I’m gonna do this and stuff,'” he revealed. “That’s why I chose the last couple fights I had. I didn’t want easy fights, I didn’t want it to be something where I go 5-0 and still have to sit there and hope and pray that I might get a shot or something. I took some big risks, came out on top, and it’s paid off, dude. It’s paid off.”
Lewis is up against Trevor Peak this Tuesday night, like himself an undefeated fighter. Asked about how he views Peak as an opponent, Lewis said he views him the same way he views all his potential foes.
“I don’t ever really care. I look ’em up once, maybe twice. My coaches look ’em up a lot, they do their thing and they tell me what we’re gonna do. But I don’t care. I always tell myself we’re going in there against Khabib or Oliveira or something,” Lewis explained. “They’re the best fighter in the world, so I’ve just got to be ready for whatever. I think he’s tough, he’s knocked out every single person he’s gone against. So I think he’s tough, but I know he’s in there with somebody tough for sure.”
As for the fight itself, “it’s probably going to be a banger,” said Lewis. “I wouldn’t be surprised if both people get a f*cking contract to be honest.”
Watch our full interview with Dana White’s Contender Series 54 lightweight Malik Lewis above.
