Malik Lewis got his chance on the Contender Series in the fall of 2023. While the short notice fight was a dream come true in a lot of ways, it came at a nightmarish time in the lightweight’s life. Not only was he not physically ready for a fight at that time, there were a lot of other problems in life that were weighing on him as well.
“I had some things going on with my health and stuff, some little outside things. I was going through it in my relationship and financially,” Lewis said. “3 weeks notice, I’m not in shape. I had been bouncing, doing a lot of travelling, trying to get to get my financial affairs, relationship and everything like that together.”
On top of all of those things, he had to hide an injury while they filmed him ‘getting ready’ for the fight as part of their usual highlight package.
“I tried to get into shape working around a broken hand. I couldn’t get into shape. I wound up getting sick,” he explained. “I don’t know if you could see it in the recordings they did when they have you hit mits and all that, but I one hand wrapped because my other was no good.”
After all of those trials, he then stepped in with one of the more durable fighters he could face. Trevor Peek took all that Lewis could dish out early in the fight and eventually turned the tables on him.
Now Lewis gets a second chance at a UFC contract, just about a year removed from his last bid. He’ll fight James Llontop and he has a prediction for how the second effort will go.
“I don’t know what round. I don’t know what minute, what punch, what knee, what strike, but I guarantee this is not going to a decision,” Lewis said with conviction.
That fight will be the featured fight of the night on week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series. The card will begin this Tuesday at 8pm EST on ESPN+.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 24:01.
