It was a pretty classic Derrick Lewis kind of night. The 11-year UFC veteran scored a first-round knockout, took a call from the U.S. president and took his pants off mid-Octagon.
Lewis (29-12) knocked out Tallison Teixeira (8-1) just 35 seconds into their heavyweight main event at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee. He dropped Teixeira with a left hook in the opening minute and followed with right hands until referee Jason Herzog intervened. It extended Lewis' UFC record of career knockouts to 16.
Teixeira, a 25-year-old prospect out of Brazil, appealed the stoppage, and might have had a point. He did work his way back to his feet after the initial left hand -- but ate so many unanswered shots in doing so, it was difficult to fault Herzog's decision.
"They been talking s--- all week," Lewis said of Teixeira's corner. "I can't speak much Portuguese, but I knew they was talking s--- about me. I just knew he'd been fighting tomato cans his whole career."
The finish was classic Lewis, as was the postfight celebration. He immediately removed his fight shorts, which he infamously did at UFC 229 in 2018, before apparently accepting a call from U.S. President Donald Trump on UFC CEO Dana White's phone in the Octagon.
A longtime fan favorite, Lewis has quietly worked his way back into heavyweight title contention following a 0-3 skid from 2022 to 2023. Since losing three in a row, he is 3-1 in his past four appearances, with knockouts in all three wins. His only loss during this four-fight run was to fellow contender Jailton Almeida via decision in November 2023. Lewis was a significant betting underdog going into Saturday.
Teixeira, who went into this heavyweight matchup with only one UFC appearance, falls to 1-1 inside the Octagon.