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UFC KO king Derrick Lewis called out for heavyweight clash at the White House

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 4:41 PM ET

Following yet another knockout-win, Derrick Lewis has officially received an offer from another top-ranked UFC heavyweight for a fight at the White House.

The UFC’s all-time leader in knockouts, Lewis added another huge finish to his record last Saturday when he stopped the previously-undefeated Tallison Teixeira in just 35 seconds to close out UFC Nashville.

“The Black Beast” allegedly hopped on the phone with President Donald Trump after the win to discuss fighting at the White House next July, and after the event UFC CEO Dana White once again confirmed that the promotion is actively looking into making that card a reality.

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Waldo Cortes-Acosta Calls Out Derrick Lewis

The 40-year-old joins the currently-retired Jon Jones and the inactive Conor McGregor as major UFC names that have expressed interest in the White House card, and just days after UFC Nashville Lewis has received a callout for that event from Waldo Cortes-Acosta.

Let me take care business first August 23 in @ufc China and we fight in the White House you and me @Thebeast_ufc @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 @MMAFighting @MMAJunkie @JohnMorgan_MMA @MMAUNCENSORED1 @arielhelwani @espnmma @dc_mma @CCLegaspi
— Waldo Cortes (@WaldoCortesUFC) July 14, 2025

"Let me take care of business first August 23 in [UFC China] and we fight in the White House you and me [Derrick Lewis]"

Currently sitting at #6 in the UFC heavyweight rankings, Cortes-Acosta has already collected a pair of victories this year and is riding the momentum of a five-fight win streak that dates back to 2023.

"Salsa Boy" On The Cusp Of Heavyweight Title Contention

As noted in his callout of Lewis, Cortes-Acosta is already booked to meet former interim heavyweight title challenger Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Shanghai on August 23.

Serious as he may be about fighting Lewis at the White House, Cortes Acosta could potentially take Pavlovich’s #3 heavyweight ranking with a win at UFC Shanghai and would put himself squarely in the mix for a shot at newly-promoted UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall.

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Aspinall already teased plans for his first undisputed title defense shortly before ex-champion Jones claimed that he’d re-entered the UFC testing pool after less than a month of retirement, and at the moment most fans expect that #1-ranked Ciryl Gane will get the next heavyweight title shot.

Unless he’s willing to pass up a potential title fight, a matchup between Lewis and Cortes-Acosta might actually make more sense if “Salsa Boy” were to come up short against Pavlovich in Shanghai. Lewis is now on a two-fight win streak but currently sits behind Cortes-Acosta in the heavyweight rankings, and he presumably won’t move up from his #9 spot after defeating the #13-ranked Teixeira in Nashville.