Derrick Lewis warns Jailton Almeida of his ground game ahead of UFC Sao Paulo: “I could get a leg lock on him”

Derrick Lewis believes he can hang with Jailton Almeida on the ground if need be.

Lewis is set to headline UFC Sao Paulo on Saturday against Almeida in a fight that he’s a massive underdog in. Many expect Almeida’s wrestling and grappling to be too much for Lewis, but ‘The Black Beast’ has confidence in himself.

Derrick Lewis knows he has gotten better on the ground and believes if the fight hits the mat he will be fine and be able to get back to his feet. But, he also jokingly isn’t ruling out pulling off a submission of his own and hints at it being a leg lock.

“I think our skills match up pretty well, especially on the ground. I think I can get a leg lock on him early in the first round,” Lewis said at UFC Sao Paulo media day.

In his career, Lewis has only one career submission victory which was back in 2010 in his fourth pro fight. So, if he does submit Jailton Almeida at UFC Sao Paulo it would be a massive surprise. But, even though he joked he’ll submit Jailton Almeida, Lewis knows if he’s going to win it will most likely be by knockout.

When Lewis makes the walk to the Octagon this weekend, he’ll face a hostile crowd in Brazil, but he doesn’t expect that to impact him at all.

“I don’t speak Portuguese so I think I’ll be alright. If they say anything in English, they might get me, but in Portuguese, I’ll be like thank you, thank you, yes, yes,” Lewis said.

Derrick Lewis is coming off a 33-second flying knee KO over Marcos Rogerio de Lima back in July. Prior to that, he lost three straight fights Serghei Spivac, Sergei Pavlovich, and Tai Tuivasa. In his career, Lewis holds notable wins over Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, and Alexander Volkov among others.