Derrick Lewis refuses to fight with referee Dan Miragliotta in the cage

Derrick Lewis received a tough break in his last bout against Sergei Pavolvich as the fight may have been stopped prematurely. The No.7-ranked heavyweight seems to believe that was the case as he called out referee Dan Miragliotta, noting that he no longer wants the official in the cage for his fights.

Speaking at the media day for UFC Fight Night 218, Lewis stated:

"They act like they ain't see that last fight. They going to stop the fight all early and this and that and be like, 'oh man, I don't know if Derrick still has it'. I mean, come on man. Dan Miragliotta, whatever his name is, he got a conspiracy out on me. The last two fights I lost, he's been the ref, and if he's the ref on this fight, I'm going to be like, 'nah, I don't want him'.

Lewis continued:

"They still going to try to put him in the cage and he's going to say, 'fighter, you ready, fighter, you ready', and I'm going to say no. We're going to need Herb Dean or somebody up in there because he ain't reffing none of my other fights. No offense to him, he's a great guy I'm pretty sure, but I don't want him reffing none of my fights."

Lewis will face Serghei Spivac in the main event of UFC Fight Night 218. While it is unclear if Miragliotta will draw the assignment, it will certainly be compelling - and unprecedented - if Lewis refuses to fight with him as the referee.

Watch Derrick Lewis' comments on referee Dan Miragliotta below (starting at the 6:08 mark):

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Derrick Lewis responds to Daniel Cormier's criticism

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier recently shared his belief that Derrick Lewis may be done as a top-level heavyweight. Speaking at the media day for UFC Fight Night 218, the No.7-ranked heavyweight fired back at Cormier, as well as all of his critics, stating:

"I guess because they feel like my work ethic wasn't there. They felt that I wasn't taking myself serious or the fight game serious or whatever. I don't blame them. I guess I got to go out there and prove to everyone that I could still do this. I could still be in the top five. I don't give a d**n what DC says. I seen that bulls**t, but I guess you got to say that whenever you got high cholesterol. F**k him."

While Lewis has lost each of his past two fights and is 5-3 in his last eight bouts, the losses have come against some of the UFC's top heavyweights. Despite Cormier's belief that his former opponent may be done being near the top of the division, he did predict that Lewis would win his UFC Fight Night 218 bout.

Watch Derrick Lewis' comments on Daniel Cormier below (starting at the 5:00 mark):