Derrick Lewis could care less if he never becomes the UFC heavyweight champion of the world.
“The Black Beast” is currently on an impressive six fight win streak in which he has finished all but one of his opponents via knockout. His last Octagon appearance saw him defeat Travis Browne via second round knockout, after surviving some nasty shots to his body that seemed to have him in trouble.
Lewis was recently in Dallas this past weekend for the UFC 211 pay-per-view (PPV), which saw UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic defend his title against Junior dos Santos in the main event, and spoke to the media regarding his upcoming bout against Mark Hunt in the main event of UFC Fight Night 110 from Auckland, New Zealand, on June 10th.
The trip is Lewis’ second overseas trip to perform inside the Octagon, and after having a bad experience his first time away from the states, he’s not really looking forward to it (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“I think I need to keep my mouth quiet,” Lewis said. “Because I think they heard me whenever I said that, and now they’re going to send me to the furthest place there is.
“I didn’t know anything about New Zealand at first, so they said New Zealand I said, ‘OK, something new.’ So I come to find out (Wednesday) that it’s going to be wintertime. I thought it was going to be hot. Now I have to pack extra, brah – keep myself warm. I don’t think I’m going to like it too much.”
Lewis takes on Mark Hunt, one of the hardest hitting heavyweights of all time, who he knows won’t be afraid to keep pressing forward and putting on an entertaining fight. Lewis also said he’s glad he doesn’t have to worry about Hunt trying to get him down or run from him:
“It’s one of the fights that I wanted, because I just knew Mark is going to come out and bang,” Lewis said. “He’s not going to try to hold me. He’s not going to try to run from me or anything like that, he’s just going to come forward. And coming forward, like he does, is going to make it an entertaining fight.”
While many UFC fighters’ ultimate goal is to become the champion of the world in their respective weight class, Lewis claims he could care less about the strap and is only interested in the financial benefits of competing under the UFC’s banner:
“I don’t care about the belt,” Lewis said. “The reason why I do want to fight for the belt is because that’s the guy who’s making all the money right now. So, if I never fight for the belt, I never get it, I don’t care.
“I’m not doing it for the top 10, I’m not trying to be the best fighter in the world. I’m not trying to be the prettiest fighting style out there. It ain’t nothing like that. I’m just doing it for the money. And just to take care of my family, that’s about it.”
Recently No. 5-ranked heavyweight Francis Ngannou called Lewis ‘slow’, but Lewis invites the Frenchman to get inside the Octagon with him and find out for himself. “The Black Beast” also has his eyes on fighters such as Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos if all goes well against “The Super Samoan”:
“That’s fine,” Lewis said. “That’s what everybody says. I’m a heavyweight. Just get up in there and whip me. He’s one of the guys I want to fight next, if everything goes good with Hunt. Him, (Junior dos Santos), Cain (Velasquez), I even want in with the guys for the belt.”
At this point in his career, Lewis is focused on taking on the most exciting fighters in the sport that can offer him the biggest paycheck, and if the belt is involved in one of those match-ups down the road, then that’s fine:
“I stack up right along with everyone else,” Lewis said. “I have a puncher’s chance, just like everyone else does. I’m just excited, and I’m happy that I’m on this roll – this six-fight winning streak right now. And I just want to fight – all the entertaining fighters. Nobody that wants to run and make a fight boring. I just want entertaining fights.”
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