Cheating in the UFC has become a more regular occurrence over the last few years, and a UFC record holder has explained why.
Over the history of MMA, cheating inside the cage has always been a problem, however, over the past several years, it has become worse.
The UFC attempted to combat the issue of eye-pokes last year when they designed new fight gloves but shortly after reverted back to using their old design after many lackluster events and continuous eye-pokes.
Despite that, eye-pokes aren’t the only way a fighter may attempt to gain an edge, with low blows, glove grabs and cage holds all other consistent issues in the sport.
Derrick Lewis reveals why he cheats in almost all of his UFC fights
The record holder for most knockouts in UFC history, Derrick Lewis, has explained that he purposely cheats in most of his UFC fights because he knows he will only receive a warning from the referee.
The officiating in the UFC has been a big topic of conversation over the last few years, with referees always catching flak for not deducting points following continuous fouls.
Even to the point that UFC boss Dana White joked that a regional show had better referees than the UFC when he watched a recent show put on by The Korean Zombie.
“I cheat in a fight, s—,” Lewis told MMAJunkie.
“I know one time, I kneed (my opponent) in the nuts, I need him in the nuts right off the bat, as soon as the fight started, I kneed him in the nuts on purpose just because I wanted to get my nerves to calm down.
“Yeah, I cheat, s—. Any means necessary, if I wanna start poking eyes and all of that, I’m gonna poke you in the eye, because you don’t get a warning and they’re not gonna take a point if you poke someone in the eye, everybody knows that.
“So I’m gonna knee them in the nuts, poke them in the eye and do everything illegal and be like ‘my bad, I didn’t mean to do that’, but put me on record, right, if I ever do that, I’m laughing on the inside saying ‘I got your ass’,” Lewis continued.
Lewis explains how officials can stop fighters from cheating in the UFC
After admitting that he cheats in most of his UFC fights, ‘The Black Beast’ went on to explain how officials can prevent fighters from cheating in the cage.
“Yeah, for sure (it should be one warning backstage and then an immediate point deduction), then it won’t happen. I know what I’m doing when I’m out there, I’ve had enough fights with the referee telling me ‘Close your hands, don’t put your fingers out’, yeah, I know,” Lewis continued.