Derrick Lewis has never been one to hold things back.

The Houston representative has been on a rampage through the UFC's heavyweight division as of late, collecting four straight victories over a cast of quality competition. Lewis has also become all the rage on social media platforms as his Twitter game has elevated to the "can't miss" variety.

Lewis pulls no punches, and all of these elements have combined to make him the man to watch in the heavyweight ranks. Lewis believes it's his time to shine, and he's willing to throw hands with anyone who thinks otherwise.

Take Fabricio Werdum for instance.

The former heavyweight champion came to the forefront of Lewis' attention on Thursday afternoon when it was announced Ben Rothwell--Werdum's original opponent for UFC 203--had been forced out of the bout with a knee injury.

Lewis took to his Twitter account to project his willingness to step up into the world, but that idea was met with disdain by the Brazilian.

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/Thebeast_ufc/status/763798562308141056" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

Rather than accept the matchup, the UFC went in a different direction and tapped Travis Browne--an opponent Werdum already faced and defeated two years earlier. The bout was officially announced Friday morning by the promotion.



While Lewis wasn't fully aware of the situation up to the minute, he wasn't surprised by him getting pushed to the back burner either.

"Werdum already beat Travis Browne so what would be the point and purpose of that? I think it's pretty obvious he doesn't want to fight me, and I don't blame him," Lewis said. "If I were him I wouldn't want to fight me either. I'm out here trying to punish these boys. I'm not playing games no more.

"A fight against Werdum would have made a lot of sense, but it's probably all about the pay. I don't think [the UFC] wants to pay me the amount I want right now. I guess they believe I haven't faced a worthy opponent to get the contract I want right now. But it's all good. My time is coming soon. I just have to stay patient I guess."

Although Lewis was passed up in pursuit of locking down a fight with Werdum, his next opponent will definitely come from the upper tier of the heavyweight division. Lewis defeated former IFL champion and The Ultimate Fighter season 10 winner Roy Nelson in his most recent outing, a bout that did not meet Lewis' personal satisfaction standards.

Rather than go toe-to-toe like he suggested in the pre-fight build-up, Nelson employed a wrestling-heavy attack, forcing Lewis to work off the canvas for large portions of the bout.

Ultimately it was Lewis' power and output that earned him the win over Nelson, but he's quick to admit it wasn't the type of victory he was looking for in Las Vegas.

"I want to fight a top-10 guy and guys with big names who are actually going to fight me," Lewis said. "I was really disappointed in my last fight with Roy Nelson, but I was disappointed in the way he fought. He said he was going to come out and bang and that got me excited. I wanted to really test myself and see how far I'd come in that short amount of time. That's the reason I wanted that fight, but it is what it is."