One of the UFC roster’s most beloved veterans makes his return this Saturday in Las Vegas.
Last week, Mohammed Usman was suspended by Combat Sports Anti-Doping until 2028 after testing positive for banned substances.
The amount of time that he will spend on the sidelines was increased by six months due to him attempting to deceive CSAD with a false explanation.
Shortly after this, one of the stars of UFC 324 claimed that he’s in the “best shape of his life” heading into the promotion’s first event of 2026.
His explanation for this raised a few eyebrows before what actually happened was explained with more context.
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Now that Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes is off, which UFC 324 fight are you looking forward to the most? 🤔
Jeff Novitzky clarifies Derrick Lewis’ recent comments about his UFC 324 preparations
Derrick Lewis holds the record for the most knockouts in UFC history, but it isn’t just his performances inside the Octagon that have made him one of the most popular fighters in the sport.
His sense of humor has made his post-fight interviews just as must-watch as the contests themselves.
Lewis, who has openly said that he cheats in fights because he can get away with it, stated in a recent episode of The Beast and the Cowboy podcast that the UFC had “provided” him with “some great peptides”.
‘The Black Beast’ and his coach both agreed that this has had a dramatic impact on his preparations to face Waldo Cortes-Acosta on January 24.
These comments attracted the interest of the UFC’s senior vice president of athlete health and performance, Jeff Novitzky.
Novitzky, who clarified the situation with a post on X, wrote that this isn’t what happened because peptides are banned.
“UFC did NOT provide Derrick Lewis with peptides,” he responded. “Peptides are prohibited at all times under UFC and athletic commissions’ rules. Derrick is referring to injectable compounds that a 3rd party tested and certified as ALLOWED AT ALL TIMES by TruShield Certified.”
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Derrick Lewis prefers to cheat in fights via a different method
Derrick Lewis has no history of failing drug tests while being signed to the UFC.
In fact, ‘The Black Beast’ received his jacket from USADA in 2022 for passing 50 consecutive tests.
Lewis’ preferred method of breaking the rules to give himself an advantage, as he explained in a Q&A video with Full Violence, is to foul his opponents and get away with it by acting innocent.
“My favorite method of cheating is probably hitting them in the nuts,” Lewis said. “Eye pokes too. Every now and then you gotta get them with an eye poke. Ain’t nothing wrong with it.
“They gonna give you a warning. Poke them in the eye, hit them in the nuts, the first ones going to be a warning,” he continued. “The second one, they might take a point, it all depends on how it looks. I’m just still gonna be like, ‘That was an accident, man. You know that.’”
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