D-Bomb ready to burst

Dwayne (D-Bomb) Lewis dealt with a lot of pent-up frustration over the past year.

The light-heavyweight fighter from Fort McMurray, Alta., had a glorious chance to capture a championship last February when he was matched up against Ryan Jimmo for the Maximum Fighting Championship’s vacant 205-pound belt.

He was riding a two-fight win streak and had won nine of his last 10 fights, all by TKO -- his only defeat was a three-round decision loss to former title-holder Emanuel Newton.

Then two weeks prior to the fight, the 36-year-old who normally trains at Bowman’s MMA, his home gym in Fort McMurray, suffered a back injury while doing part of his camp at Roufusport MMA in Milwaukee. It didn’t knock him out of the fight, but it did hamper his chances. Big-time.

"I came back (from Milwaukee) a week earlier (than planned), and for the last two weeks of my camp before my fight, all I could do was some light swimming and hot tub and chiropractic work. I could barely walk," Lewis said. "By fight night, we just jumped in there and I did the best I could with what was going on."

Lewis hung in for two-plus rounds, but with his mobility severely restricted, Lewis took significant damage from the striking of Jimmo, his fellow Canadian opponent who was on a 13-fight win streak of his own, while he searched for a knockout blow that would never come. Midway through the third round, the referee was forced to stop the bout due to a huge bulge under Lewis’s left eye that left it swollen shut, and Jimmo was awarded a TKO victory.

The eye injury went away relatively quickly. But the back injury -- an earlier MRI had revealed a number of issues, the biggest being a herniated disc -- was what had cost him.

"I probably should have pulled out of the fight, but I have no regrets, it was my choice to jump in there with that injury; and up until the eye injury, I thought I was doing pretty well," Lewis said. "There were still a lot of things that I wanted to do that I couldn’t do. But I think the biggest part was mental; mentally going in there with an injury like that kind of hampers you."

Since that fight in Edmonton, Jimmo went on to successfully defend his MFC belt twice and was recently signed by the UFC. Lewis went on to spend the better part of the next year simply trying to get back on the mats.

“For the first seven months since my last fight, I pretty much did absolutely nothing but rehab, chiropractic work, acupuncture, whatever I could do to get my back back in shape," Lewis said.

The Canadian now believes he’s at full capacity for the first time in a while, and he’s ready to test his back this Friday, when he takes on former UFC fighter Wilson Gouveia (12-8) at MFC 32: Bitter Rivals in Edmonton.

And he expects it to be a wild one.

"(Gouveia) keeps saying in his interviews he doesn’t want to bang it out, he wants to take me down right away and submit me," Lewis said. “I don’t know if that’s reverse psychology or not but I think he’s going to trade. He’s a brawler type fighter and I think that’s where all the action is going to happen. Right in the centre of the ring we’re going to go toe to toe.”

Gouveia, who trains at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., has lost his last three fights and hasn’t competed in nearly two years. He fell by decision to Jimmo in May 2010 at MFC 25, his first fight with the Edmonton-based organization after a long stint in the UFC. But he did win six of his first eight fights in the Octagon, all by stoppage (four submissions, one knockout and one tapout from strikes).

Similar to Lewis, Gouveia had to take time out to deal with his own lingering back injury, for which he underwent intensive therapy. He too thinks he's finally ready to make his return -- with a vengeance.

"Fighting is my job and I really wanted to come back as soon as I felt I could come back at 100 per cent," Gouveia said in a press release. "Now that I’m healthy and motivated I know that I can be the MFC champion."

Although there was a scheduled championship bout on Friday’s card -- Antonio McKee was set to defend his lightweight title against Brian Cobb before both fighters missed weight Thursday and McKee was stripped of his belt -- Lewis's fight against the 33-year-old jiu-jitsu black belt from Brazil will be the last one on the night. Part of that is due to Lewis being the home-crowd favourite.

But the other reason he believes MFC president Mark Pavelich chose to put them in the headlining slot was because their matchup gives a very good chance of the night of fights going out with a bang.

“I think he was impressed with his shows last year but found the main event was (often) a klunker in terms of dragged-out decisions and kind of boring fights so that’s why he put me and Gouveia as the main event this time just because of our styles,” Lewis said. “I’m not going to have to chase Gouveia in that ring and he’s not going to have to chase me. We’re going to be there forehead to forehead going at it.”

It is slated as a five-round, non-title fight. But does he expect it go the distance?

“Not a chance.”

While Lewis expects to entertain, he’s not really actively eyeing a UFC opportunity like his former opponent Jimmo, who is almost seven years younger than him. He’s pretty content fighting in high-profile fights in Canada’s top MMA promotion.

“I kind of had those dreams in the beginning but not anymore. I’m kind of happy where I am,” Lewis said. “I’m not a young guy anymore, I’m doing the best I can, taking it one fight at a time, and if the opportunity does come, fine, but if doesn’t that’s fine too.

“I’m pretty much building memories right now and having a good time.”

As for that pent-up frustration -- with age comes maturity, and he’s ready to put it in the past.

“As I was training for this fight, a lot of aggression was coming out, because I was thinking (about the) long time off and the last fight the way it went down, and I was kind of getting pissed off,” Lewis admitted. “But you know what, I’m not going to let emotions get the best of me. I’m a little older, a little smarter than that.

“I’ll go in there (against Gouveia) with a cool, calm and collected (approach) and when the opportunity opens up, that’s when I’ll unleash.”

James Brydon is the Managing Digital Editor and blogger for sportsnet.ca's UFC section.