Derrick Lewis is one of my favorite UFC fighters of all-time. It is not just that he is entertaining in the octagon, it’s also what he does afterwards in his celebration and post-fight interviews. That got me wondering – what is his victory celebration move supposed to be?
Derrick Lewis’s victory celebration is a move signifying his nickname “The Black Beast”. He portrays a gorilla by first pounding his chest, then power slamming his fists to the mat, and getting low to the ground before standing up. After he stands up, he does a throat slash noting his victory over his opponent.
His knockout over Curtis Blaydes gave him the current record of most TKO’s in UFC history, which is great because that means plenty of hilarious entertainment afterwards.
Let’s look at some other highlights from his post-fight celebrations.
The Black Beast Celebration
The first time I became an official Derrick Lewis fan was when he knocked out Alexander Volkov (UFC 229) in the last few seconds of the fight. Down to his last chance, he was losing the fight but threw some well-timed punches to secure an epic last-second upset.
Lewis, staggering from exhaustion, pounded his chest, slammed the ground, and then swooped in low to the ground while nodding his head like a gorilla. When he is low to the ground he is essentially in an upward dog yoga pose.
“They call me the Black Beast, so basically, that’s why I beat on my chest like a gorilla and I do a little stare or whatever, like a gorilla pose, a beast staring at a prey.”
Check out this video, from UFC’s YouTube channel, which highlights 6 of his knockouts, including Lewis’s signature celebrations.
It’s also worth noting that during introductions, before the fight, Lewis spends some time pounding his chest as part of his pre-fight ritual.
In another fight, Lewis vs Gonzaga on UFC Fight Night in 2016, Lewis had a lot more energy after knocking out Gabriel Gonzaga in the first round. He immediately ran and leaped into his Black Beast victory celebration, exercising a thunderous gorilla slam onto the mat.
Derrick Lewis’s Other Celebrations
Another way that Lewis celebrates is with his post-fight interviews, which have made him a UFC fan favorite.
Perhaps, the most famous thing Lewis ever said was “Cuz My B*lls Was Hot”, responding to a question by Joe Rogan about why he had taken his pants off. The comment not only made the fans in the arena go crazy, but became a viral sensation on the internet.
Lewis followed that epic comment by telling Rogan he was going to come onto the JRE podcast and “smoke some w**d with you”. He did end up coming onto the podcast in JRE MMA Show #106, although they didn’t partake in the extracurricular activities.
What is funny about Lewis’s comment about his b*lls being hot, is that he was actually taking his pants off to throw them into the crowd, giving them to a lucky fan, but decided to put them back on. Surely, those pants would have been worth a lot of money now.
What makes Lewis such a fan favorite is his off-the-cusp humor, chilled demeanor, and lack of care about what anyone thinks about him. He is willing to say whatever is on his mind.
10 Hilarious Things Derrick Lewis Has Said
- “Cuz my b*lls was hot.”
- “Donald Trump Called Me, Told Me I Got to Knock This Russian Mother F***er Out.”
- “He’s OK.”
- “I need to sit my black a** down, do some more cardio.”
- “I’m going come on your show and smoke some w**d with ya.”
- “Time to kill. That’s when that beast-mode kicked in.”
- “No Habla English.”
- “Swanging and banging. H-town on that boy.”
- “I just got to do #2. That’s all.”
- “Plus all the training and s*x I been getting. Yeah my body needs some time off.”
The #1 viral phrase from Lewis vs Volkov in UFC 229 will forever being an all-time great. In a mere 2 minutes he performed an improv stand-comedy episode that had Joe Rogan chuckling during the interview.
Lewis has created a raving fan base on his Instagram account from his hilarious, yet sometimes scary posts about people doing dumb things. He usually captions his posts with “He’s ok” or “she’s ok”.