Roy Nelson congratulates 'next opponent' Derrick Lewis for KO win
Derrick Lewis put hands on Gabriel Gonzaga for his sixth UFC knockout, the most in the promotion since 2014, Sunday at UFC Fight Night in Zagreb, Croatia, and afterwards, expressed his interest in clashing with knockout artist Roy Nelson (above). And it appears the feeling is mutual.
Nelson, who has 16 UFC fights under his belt, reached out to Lewis to congratulate him on his victory, and calling him his "next opponent."
Congrats to @ufc @Thebeast_ufc my next opponent https://t.co/Dlnjk3VT9J
— Roy Nelson (@roynelsonmma) April 10, 2016
While speaking to FOX Sports backstage at the event, Lewis elaborated on his call-out
"Oh yea, I want Roy Nelson, and it's nothing personal." Lewis said. "I feel he's just going to bring the better fighter out of me. And it's going to be a fan-favorite fight. I'm here for the promotion to sell tickets, you know.
"Hopefully we'll renegotiate my contract so I can make $1 million to fight, or something like that." Lewis said with a chuckle. "But we're not gonna talk about that right now."
Both heavyweight have expressed a desire to exchange punches, even confronting UFC president Dana White with the idea.
Looks like we have a fight folks @roynelsonmma #UFC196 pic.twitter.com/stEEOSvRbz
— Derrick Lewis (@Thebeast_ufc) March 6, 2016
Since both parties are down to rumble, and now that Lewis has a win over a former title contender, why not let these two heavyweights slug it out sometime this summer?
