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Chael Sonnen has given his props to Derrick Lewis for having the unique ability to be loved inside and outside of the cage by fans. In a recently released video on his YouTube channel, Sonnen compared Lewis to both Nick and Nate Diaz for his immense popularity.
Sonnen added that one cannot count Derrick Lewis out of the title picture and think that he won't return as a main event-level fighter. The former UFC fighter reminded everyone how 'The Black Beast' already has a win over reigning UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Sonnen mentioned that UFC 265 did not prove that Derrick Lewis cannot fight top-level fighters but rather that he had a hard time against Ciryl Gane, specifically.
"Derrick has something that most other guys don't. I mean, I would have to compare him to Nick and Nate Diaz and that people love him in and outside of the cage, regardless of what he's doing. So if you're looking for, where does Derrick Lewis go from here? You cannot instantly discount that he's ever going to return to a main event or a title fight. I understand how these things become less likely when you come up short but Derrick Lewis has a win over the reigning undisputed champion so it's not as though you can come away from this conclusion and say, 'Well Derrick has just proven he can't compete with this guys anymore.' No, that's not what he proved at all, he proved he has a hard time competitively with Ciryl Gane, specifically."
Derrick Lewis was unable to win the interim UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 265
At UFC 265, Derrick Lewis was unable to capture the interim UFC heavyweight championship in his main event fight against Ciryl Gane. The two men squared off in a huge title bout in front of a red-hot Houston audience but Lewis was unable to get past the French fighter.
