JRE MMA Show #105 with Derrick Lewis
Joe Rogan (host), Derrick Lewis (guest), Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Derrick Lewis, JRE MMA Show #105 with Derrick Lewis explores derrick Lewis on knockouts, hardship, family, and heavyweight destiny Joe Rogan and Derrick Lewis dive into Lewis’s recent KO of Curtis Blaydes, his training approach, low testosterone issue, and the technical game plans behind some of his biggest wins. Lewis explains how late-found MMA success transformed his life from prison and poverty to financial security, Ferraris, and a top heavyweight ranking. They discuss conditioning, weight loss goals, injuries, and what it would take for Lewis to become UFC heavyweight champion. Beyond fighting, Lewis opens up about family struggles, social media, fame, and what he wants his post‑fight life to look like.
Derrick Lewis on knockouts, hardship, family, and heavyweight destiny
Joe Rogan and Derrick Lewis dive into Lewis’s recent KO of Curtis Blaydes, his training approach, low testosterone issue, and the technical game plans behind some of his biggest wins. Lewis explains how late-found MMA success transformed his life from prison and poverty to financial security, Ferraris, and a top heavyweight ranking. They discuss conditioning, weight loss goals, injuries, and what it would take for Lewis to become UFC heavyweight champion. Beyond fighting, Lewis opens up about family struggles, social media, fame, and what he wants his post‑fight life to look like.
Key Takeaways
Game-planning around an opponent’s habits can create fight-ending openings.
Lewis and his coaches drilled counters specifically for Blaydes’ unusual, hinge-style takedown entries, leading directly to the perfectly timed uppercut knockout.
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Monitoring health markers is critical, even for elite athletes.
After feeling flat all fight week, Lewis had bloodwork done and discovered very low testosterone levels, reminding fighters to investigate unexplained fatigue rather than simply blaming travel or nerves.
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Endurance and weight management are decisive factors for heavyweights.
Lewis admits cardio was his biggest weakness and is now focused on conditioning, experimenting with StairMaster, bikes, and potentially running, with a long-term goal of dropping from ~290 to 245–250 pounds.
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Injuries in one area can cascade into major performance problems elsewhere.
A long‑ignored knee injury altered Lewis’s mechanics, contributed to back issues, and eventually forced surgery; once repaired and rehabbed, both his back and overall performance improved significantly.
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Mental composure and self-talk inside the cage can be as important as physical skill.
Lewis describes “fighting himself” during bouts—constantly gauging his gas tank, picking spots to explode, and staying calm even when behind on the scorecards, which enables late, dramatic finishes like the Volkov KO.
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Financial literacy and boundaries are essential when sudden success hits.
Lewis talks about buying cars and houses for family members only to have them sell the cars for cash and continually ask for money, reinforcing the need to invest (e. ...
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Personal adversity can fuel drive but doesn’t need to be repeated for the next generation.
Lewis sees his time in prison and fatherless upbringing as what forged his toughness and perspective, yet he’s determined to give his kids a safer, more supportive life focused on education and emotional wellbeing.
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Notable Quotes
“I go into every fight like life or death. I enter a deep, dark place every time I step inside the octagon.”
— Derrick Lewis
“I really just don’t like training. I do it just to take care of my family.”
— Derrick Lewis
“My name mixed with ‘heavyweight champion of the world’ is so crazy because of my past and the stuff I’ve been through.”
— Derrick Lewis
“I don’t regret going to prison. I believe I had to go through that situation to be a better man and a better father today.”
— Derrick Lewis
“At any moment you can drop a hammer on somebody and it’s over.”
— Joe Rogan (about Derrick Lewis)
Questions Answered in This Episode
How would Derrick Lewis approach a rematch with Francis Ngannou differently now that his knee and back are fixed and his conditioning is improved?
Joe Rogan and Derrick Lewis dive into Lewis’s recent KO of Curtis Blaydes, his training approach, low testosterone issue, and the technical game plans behind some of his biggest wins. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What specific training or lifestyle changes could help Lewis realistically get down to his target 245–250 pounds without sacrificing his trademark knockout power?
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How might Lewis’s prison experience and early life in poverty subconsciously shape his risk tolerance and decision-making inside the cage?
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What role should the UFC or teams play in helping fighters monitor hormones, mental health, and long-term wellbeing beyond just fight preparation?
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If Lewis achieves the heavyweight title and walks away by age 40, what would a successful second career in real estate or media realistically look like for him?
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Transcript Preview
(drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.
The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) All right. Mr. Lewis, what's up?
What's up? What's up?
Thanks for being here and doing this.
Thanks for finally having me.
My pleasure, dude. And yeah, we talked about it a couple times.
Yeah. (laughs)
The "my balls was hot" one was the famous one.
I don't remember that one.
(laughs)
(laughs)
So how's things, man?
Things been crazy. Been real crazy.
I can only imagine.
Yeah.
After that knockout of Curtis Blaydes, like, uh, poof. I mean, that- that got a lot of attention.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. And it felt real gr- good to knock him out because he was talking a lot of trash before the fight.
Isn't that, like, par for the course, though? Everybody talks shit before the fight.
Um, even whenever I'm doing good, though. He been talking, at least three years now, he been talking mess to me.
Really?
Yeah.
Do you take that shit personally?
Um, I- I do because I'm not in there trying to sell tickets. Don't just come to me trying to sell tickets to talk trash, you know. I take everything personal.
Yeah, some guys do just try to sell tickets and then they, they'll say, "It's not personal." It's just, like, when Khabib Nurmagomedov was fucking up Conor when he was on top of him, pounding on him, going, "Let's talk now. Let's talk now." Remember that?
(laughs) Yeah, yeah.
And he goes, "It's just business." You know? It's like, this is not business.
No. No. I go into every fight, like, life or death. And I go i- I enter a deep, dark place every time I step inside the octagon, so it's not business for me.
What was interesting is after the fight, I mean, it was just such a spectacular knockout, but after the fight, you were so nonchalant. You were just so relaxed and you're like, "I couldn't get started in there."
Mm-hmm.
And everybody's like, "What the fuck are you talking about you couldn't get started? You just... It was one of the most spectacular knockouts in the history of the heavyweight division." And you're like, "Oh, I couldn't get started."
Yeah, um, so I went back home and got my blood and everything tested and my T levels was, like, in the 300s. So I had very low T, so it's like-
You mean testosterone?
Yes.
You?
Mm-hmm.
Have low testosterone?
Yes.
That's ridiculous.
Yeah.
I would never... Uh, if you h- if I was gonna make a bet? (laughs)
(laughs) It's so, like, I try to spend all my energy on my wife, so it's kinda hard because-
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