Edmonton — Heavyweight Derrick Lewis (28-12, 1NC) doesn’t seem to be sold on the Canadian staple Poutine. In fact, he struggled to recognize what it was on Wednesday, confusing it with a similar sounding but very different term during the UFC Edmonton media day.
The dish consists of French fries, gravy, and cheese curds (swapping those curds out with plain old shredded cheese is generally frowned upon). It’s a nation-wide favorite in a country that lacks a culinary identity, but to Lewis, who lives in Texas, it’s unheard of.
“What? No, what is… Pou- Pou- Poontang? I’ve heard of poontang, but I’ve never heard of no Poutine,” Lewis quipped dryly, as only he can, when asked whether his Fight Week diet allowed to try the popular dish.
Oh course, he’s had plenty of that other term. “Sh*t, I got a bad taste in my mouth now. I ain’t seen my wife in two weeks.” Bravo, Derrick. But once Poutine was explained in detail, Lewis didn’t seem interested. “No, no, no. And what’s up with they liking tea with milk? Every restaurant I go, I said ‘just give me a sweet tea’ and they don’t got sweet tea, but they can mix some tea with some milk in it. What is that?”
Exploring local cuisine will have to wait until after his fight. First up, Lewis has Jhonata Diniz, a kickboxing standout who replaces Alexander Romanov, the opponent Lewis was originally booked against. Romanov stays on the card, fighting Rodrigo Nascimento, who was originally booked opposite Diniz. The opponent swap, believes Lewis, was to produce a more exciting fight.
And regardless, he’s just happy someone took the fight.
“We’ve been trying to get a fight for months. And we couldn’t get anything,” revealed Lewis. “I hate waiting this long for a fight, so I just appreciate him for accepting the fight.”
Asked by Cageside Press whether opponents had been turning him down, or someone had pulled out injured, Lewis explained that “they [the UFC] were just making excuses, saying there was nothing available. And I told them ‘sh*t, I’ll fight on this card right here’ and this and that. I told them I’d even step up and fight, I forgot the guy’s name, because I heard he wanted to come to heavyweight. I said I’d even step up and fight him. I just wanted to fight.”
Presumably, that would be Alex Pereira. But 30 fights into his UFC career, it’s Diniz he’ll face instead.
In just a few more weeks, meanwhile, Jon Jones will return to take on heavyweight great Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Lewis, for one, is surprised by the disrespect “Bones” has received in some quarters.
“I think Jon will beat him in the first round. It’s crazy to see a lot of people just disrespect Jones like that, like he ain’t the GOAT for real,” said Lewis. “Like a lot of people keep throwing around this GOAT terms and this and that. Jones has been doing this for so many years at the top of the level, against all these opponents, top ranked guys, and even though he’s been having all this trouble outside of the UFC, it’s like, people outside of the UFC don’t even know. It’s like 80% mental that you’ve got to go into these fights, and it’s like 20% physical. Because if you don’t have the mentality to go into these fights, you’re not going to do well. And for him to have to be going through all this stuff that he’s been going through and still beating these guys like this, it says a lot.”
Watch the full UFC Edmonton media day appearance by Derrick Lewis above.
