There hasn’t been a lot of crossover between WWE and UFC since they became part of the same company, but Derrick Lewis is keeping the door for a run in professional wrestling.
Speaking to reporters ahead of his fight with Rodrigo Nascimento (starts at 10:10 mark), Lewis said he’s “been talking for a few months now” with WWE and joked his finisher would be the stinkface previously used by Rikishi.
Prior to speaking about WWE (starts at 8:00 mark), Lewis sided with Kendrick Lamar as the winner of the weekend’s battle with Drake.
“I like Drake, but I just thought Kendrick won,” he said.
Lewis is one of the most powerful strikers in UFC history. His 14 knockouts with the promotion are the most for any fighter ever under the UFC banner.
The 39-year-old has shown off a pro-wrestling personality at times inside the octagon. He did the DX crotch chops after a TKO victory over Marcos Rogério de Lima at UFC 291 in July 2023.
DO YOU BELIEVE IT?! 🤯@Thebeast_ufc adds another KO to the historic heavyweight resume at #UFCVegas19 pic.twitter.com/INLCaHvCj4
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 21, 2021
This elicited a response on X from Triple H, who called Lewis a “WWE taunt expert.”
.@thebeast_ufc … @ufc heavyweight … @wwe taunt expert.
#knockout #congrats https://t.co/5Ls8YVdx9y— Triple H (@TripleH) February 21, 2021
Since WWE and UFC merged under the TKO umbrella in September 2023, the only notable crossover for the two promotions was when Michael Chandler cut a promo on Conor McGregor on the Feb. 19 episode of Raw.
There is a history of UFC fighters joining WWE. Ken Shamrock was the first major UFC star to make the leap into wrestling.
Brock Lesnar is the most famous crossover example, even though he technically started in WWE before eventually moving into mixed martial arts. The Beast renewed his old UFC rivalry with Cain Velasquez at the 2019 Crown Jewel event that he won to retain the WWE championship.
Ronda Rousey had a successful stint in WWE after her UFC career ended. Matt Riddle is a former United States champion and tag team champion.
Lewis’ mixed martial arts career could be winding down given his age. He’s also lost five of his last seven fights going into Saturday’s showdown with Nascimento in the main event of the UFC Fight Night show.
If Lewis wants to find another outlet to keep fighting, even in worked bouts, he’s got an easy in with WWE since management knows how to get a hold of him.
