2) Lewis is from the meanest streets, and home. The Louisiana native says the first contests he saw were daily fist fights between his mum and stepfather. "There was nothing positive about my childhood," he told MMA Fighting writer Chuck Mindenhall, in this excellent 2014 profile.
3) To prison. A teenaged Lewis was having a fling with an older woman, whose ex-husband turned up with a shotgun. Lewis smashed the man, who was to lose the sight in his left eye. Lewis was charged with aggravated assault. This led to over three years in prison for probation violation, an experience he described as "horrible beyond words."
4) But Lewis also says prison helped turn his life around, and was where he first dreamed of becoming a professional fighter.
5) Lewis, one of the scariest fighters on the planet, was a brief student of the man Sports Illustrated once dubbed "the baddest man on the planet" - George Foreman. Lewis, a former tow truck driver, showed so much boxing promise that former world heavyweight champion Foreman took him under his wing in Houston. Apart from maybe Earnie Shavers, Foreman is rated the hardest hitter in boxing history. Lewis thinks of him more like his "grandfather".
6) Lewis is an extremely dangerous fighter. MMAjunkie reckoned his last victory over Travis Browne in February "added yet another violent knockout to his highlight reel".
"Although he's only been in the UFC less than three years, 'The Black Beast' has already built a resume which stands up next to anyone currently in the heavyweight division."
For an unusual view of his punching power, watch him using tyres instead of a punching bag.
7) That resume makes for scary reading. The UFC victory over Browne, his sixth in a row, gave him the best active streak in the heavyweight division. His eight knockout victories in the elite UFC are the most among active fighters. (the great Conor McGregor is second with six). Lewis has the third most knockouts in divisional history. (credit MMAJunkie)
8) Toilet humour? Lewis came up with one of the weirdest reasons in combat sports history for showing first round discomfort against Browne, claiming he needed to do "number two".
9) Lewis is quietly spoken, but his words still have plenty of sting. He kept landing blows after beating Browne, the boyfriend of MMA legend Ronda Rousey. "Where's Ronda Rousey's fine a** at?" said Lewis, who also made reference to domestic violence allegations made against Browne by Browne's former wife.
10) To re-iterate that he's not scared of stepping on a few toes, this was his assessment of man-mountain Brock Lesnar, the MMA fighter turned wrestler.
"There's a big difference between me and Brock Lesnar, man. The difference is, Brock is scared to get hit...he'd curl up like a little baby."
11) He doesn't go easy on himself either. After the December TKO win over Shamil Abdurakhimov, Lewis said: "'I didn't like my performance at all. I know it was a five round fight. I just tried to pace myself, but that was some bull****."
