First let’s get one thing straight: There’s not supposed to be a Derrick Lewis in the UFC in 2017.

That is to say, a mostly one-dimensional heavyweight who relies on power, the ability to just stand right up after he’s taken down, and good old-fashioned brawlability? Yeah, that guy is not supposed to be on a six-fight winning streak in the modern world of mixed martial arts.

Which is part of what makes it so fun. The other part is Lewis himself, a deadpan comic with sledgehammers for fists.

Early on in his main event bout with Travis Browne at UFC Fight Night 105, Lewis (18-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) reminded us why his whole deal shouldn’t possibly work as well as it has of late. With the 6-foot-7 Browne (18-6-1 MMA, 9-6-1 UFC) standing just outside Lewis’ punching range, he began shoving one kick after another into the shorter man’s gut – what former UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz would liken to “poking him with a broomstick” in his comments on the post-fight show.

Lewis didn’t care for it. He later dismissed his own concerns over the kicks as primarily gastrointestinal in nature, but don’t you believe it. Those kicks hurt Lewis. If Browne had been a little more careful in his follow-up, they might have even finished him.

But don’t just dismiss that “if,” either. It’s important. You can’t tell the story of Lewis’ ongoing rampage through the rankings without also telling the story of all those ifs.

If Shamil Abdurakhimov had just kept taking Lewis down and suffocating him on the floor in his last fight, for instance, he probably doesn’t wind up in this main event against a top-10 opponent in the first place.

If Roy Nelson had been able to keep Lewis down long enough to submit him or swing a couple extra points his way on the scorecards, rather than losing via split-decision last July, Lewis’ momentum might have been halted then.

The ifs just go on and on, which is bound to happen when you’re an admittedly limited heavyweight in a division with jiu-jitsu black belts and overpowering wrestlers, yet somehow you keep winning fights it seems like you should lose.

In an era where everyone is supposed to be well-rounded, even at heavyweight, Lewis isn’t. And in a division where you’re either supposed to be a lumbering giant or an agile, all-around athlete, Lewis is neither.

He’s big without being huge. He’s a knockout artist without being an especially slick striker. His ground game has two settings: smash from on top, and stand up from the bottom. It feels unfair to call him a one-trick pony, but it also feels like you could list all his tricks on the back of a cocktail napkin.

Such a man is supposed to eventually be found out by all the mixing in these martial arts. And while it seems at times like Lewis has run head-first into his limitations, more often than not he ends up smashing right through them with sheer force and determination.

That makes him easy to root for. The fact that he can get on the mic afterward and ether a felled opponent while also praising the role that his own sex life has played in his training, that makes him even more memorable. In a landscape of guys thanking deities and nutritionists before offering to fight whoever the UFC puts in front of them, a man who says he’ll treat his coaches like “side chicks” he doesn’t want to talk to until he’s ready to fight again is bound to stand out.

But now begins the next phase in this pattern. Having moved another step up the ranks, Lewis will likely find himself with a tougher opponent when he does finally decide to start answering his phone again. And once you crack the top of this division, you find a handful of truly dangerous men, all of whom are, in least in theory, totally capable of exploiting any opponent who can only do one thing really well.

The next one, that should be the one Lewis loses, if only his opponent can take advantage of his weaknesses. But there’s that if again, prying open just enough space to let a little light in. And so far, that seems to be all the room Lewis needs.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 105, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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