Derrick Lewis couldn’t be more flattered to be one of President Donald Trump’s favorite fighters, and if he picks up a big win at UFC 324, he’d love to be able to compete on the White House lawn — possibly, for a UFC title.
Lewis faces surging heavyweight contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta on the main card at UFC 324, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and serves as the promotion’s first event on Paramount+ in the U.S.
With a big win on Saturday, Lewis is hopeful he’ll be able to compete on the June event on the White House lawn in front of Trump.
“Yeah, for sure,” Lewis told MMA Fighting. “We’ve got to find a Russian fighter, or someone from Venezuela, or maybe a fighter from the Greenlands.”
The UFC White House card has taken on a life of its own. UFC CEO Dana White says following the conclusion of UFC 324, he and the matchmakers will immediately begin putting the fight card together.
Lewis was asked about possibly facing the likes of a Jon Jones or Alex Pereira, who have both expressed big-time interest in competing on the card, and possibly facing them for an interim heavyweight title while Tom Aspinall heals from an eye injury suffered in the No Contest against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 this past October.
“The Black Beast” feels that the card itself won’t matter as much as the potential spectacle many are expecting UFC White House to be.
“Anything that sells, I believe, will be perfect,” Lewis explained. “Actually, we really don’t even need to sell that [card] with good matchups. People just want to see how everything is going to pan out being at the White House because it’s going to be a one-time thing only, I’m sure.
“No other president is going to allow something like this to happen. So I believe it’s going to be a one in a lifetime. So I’m excited. Hopefully I can be a part of it. If not, I’ll probably still be watching.”
Cortes-Acosta enters the matchup following five fights in 2025, winning four of them, including back-to-back knockouts over Ante Delija and Shamil Gaziev to cap off the year.
Lewis has consecutive knockout victories in main event appearances. In his lone 2025 bout, Lewis destroyed Tallison Teixeira in the first round at UFC Nashville this past July. Lewis was mentioned as an outside contender to possibly challenge Aspinall in his first undisputed title defense, but didn’t get it, and felt he wasn’t worthy of it.
With a win over “Salsa Boy,” the 40-year-old believes he’ll have a strong case to fight for the belt — whether it be for an interim or undisputed title.
“I wasn’t thinking about a title shot around there,” Lewis said. “Just because of the type of fighter that I fought. I didn’t deserve a title shot after beating a guy like that. [Heavyweight] is always in a weird spot. Anybody can really fight for the title, but I just thought just because of the caliber of fighter I was fighting I didn’t deserve a title shot
“I believe [I earn a shot if I win at UFC 324], just because of where [Cortes-Acosta] is at in the rankings.”
