Gallery Junior Dos Santos def. Derrick Lewis at UFC Wichita: Best photos view 26 images

WICHITA, Kan. – Junior Dos Santos believes Derrick Lewis has a tendency to exaggerate on some things when he’s in the octagon, and said he got a first-hand experience of it at UFC on ESPN+ 4.

Dos Santos (21-5 MMA 15-4 UFC) mostly had his way with Lewis (21-7 MMA, 12-5 UFC) en route to a second-round TKO in the matchup of heavyweight contenders in Saturday’s headliner, which took place at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan., and streamed on ESPN+.

Prior to taking out “The Black Beast” with a flurry of strikes in the second frame, Dos Santos was lulled into some wild exchanges with Lewis. At one point he poked his opponent in the eye, which caused referee Herb Dean to briefly halt the action. Dos Santos didn’t think it was that bad, but he said he saw a side of Lewis come out that he became familiar with while studying tape in preparation for the bout.

“Derrick Lewis, I could see it in his fights, too, he complains a lot,” Dos Santos told MMA Junkie post-fight at UFC on ESPN+ 4. “Every time he got hit or something he complains a lot. I don’t know if he’s trying to take advantage of the moment or something, but he complains a lot. He was telling the ref, ‘My eye.’ It doesn’t make sense. He was fine.

“You can see on the camera he was fine. That doesn’t make any sense. But that’s fine. The ref, Herb Dean, he’s the greatest in this business and I trust him and that’s what I told him – that my hands weren’t open.”

The severity of fouls aside, Dos Santos said he had to keep his focus when fighting Lewis. He hurt his opponent multiple times before the finish, but it was also hard to tell whether Lewis was trying a rope-a-dope moment.

Dos Santos said it was important to stay sharp, and if he did that, he knew the stoppage could come.

“It was a good challenge,” Dos Santos said. “I know how dangerous he is so I was trying to avoid those punches and one of them connected, but I didn’t feel it too much. I could feel that he has a lot of power, but my angles, I like to position myself in a better way to connect with better punches.”

With three consecutive victories to his credit, Dos Santos is on his longest winning streak since the nine-fight run that kicked off his octagon tenure more than a decade ago. The former titleholder wants to continue his climb up the ranks, but said he has something more important to deal with first.

“The main goal is to keep active,” Dos Santos said. “But now I need a little break. My daughter is due in May. So I need to set everything up to receive her and make sure everything is fine, then I’ll fight again. Maybe at the end of August.”

Dos Santos has already expressed interest in a showdown with Francis Ngannou (13-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) after UFC on ESPN+ 4, but he didn’t seem locked in on that pairing. His personal timeline comes first, then whoever makes most sense when he’s ready to return is who he will agree to fight.

“I don’t really care about who I am going to fighting,” Dos Santos said. “Of course I want to add something to my career. You can see this ranking thing. It’s crazy. Let’s see what’s going to happen. But there’s many options for sure.”

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