Having turned 34 last month, Derrick Lewis' intentions in the heavyweight division have never been clearer.
"My goal is just to make as much money as I can in the sport, and that’s it,” the veteran said in a phone interview this week.
Lewis (21-6-1 no contest) can work toward his goal of continuing to cash out Saturday, when he headlines UFC Fight Night 146 by facing Junior dos Santos (20-5-0) at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan., and live on ESPN+.
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Entering the fight, dos Santos has been clear in saying that a win over Lewis should grant him a title shot at heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. But coming off a second-round submission loss to Cormier himself in November, Lewis couldn’t care less about being back in title contention. With nearly a decade strong in the MMA game, that’s just not what “The Black Beast” is about anymore.
“I don’t care about being right back in for title contention,” he said bluntly. “That’s not my goal anymore. I don’t care where I’m at in the heavyweight division. As long as I win enough, so they keep me. That’s about it.”
That being said, Lewis did learn a valuable lesson from his loss to Cormier. The veteran believes he let himself stray away from his game, and that paved the way for “DC” to trap him in a rear-naked choke to end it.
“I was hesitating and worrying about the wrong thing, instead of doing my job,” Lewis said. “I was worrying about what he was able to do to me, instead of me going out there keeping my game plan. That’s usually the way I am — I don’t care what my opponent can do. I just focus on myself.”
And that’s the way he’s approaching this fight against dos Santos. “The Black Beast” does his thing, and he feels good about his chance to drop dos Santos and record his 19th knockout.
Aside from crediting dos Santos for his “pretty good cardio,” Lewis isn’t willing to budge on giving his opponent any additional props.
“I expect him to hit hard, but that doesn’t concern me,” Lewis said, once again reinforcing that it’s more about what he does inside the confines of the Octagon than his opponent.
But Lewis did get a kick out of hearing dos Santos say that he talks too much entering their scrap.
“Tell him to shut me up,” Lewis said, laughing. “If he thinks that I talk too much, then he must not know me.”
Lewis is right. He is not a chatty guy; more of a guy who makes his word count matter.
After delivering a scintillating TKO against Alexander Volkov during the waning seconds of the third round of their UFC 229 clash in October, he gave fight fans a full blast of unfiltered Derrick Lewis, telling Joe Rogan, "My balls was hot."
The soundbite went viral, with Lewis getting an additional 700,000 followers on Instagram in the immediate aftermath. His IG currently counts 1.6 million followers who are treated to wildly entertaining posts that amuse Lewis, such as a new father battle-rapping his infant son or a road-rage incident gone wrong.
“Whatever I think is interesting for me, whatever I think is fun, I just go ahead and post it,” Lewis said.
Along the same lines, if you ask Lewis something, he is going to give his fresh take like only he can.
During the Cormier fight promotion, Lewis spent some time talking about the keys to a good marriage. Impressed with Lewis’ thoughts, Sporting News gave him a few bumps-in-the-road situations couples might go through and asked him to provide some couple counseling on the spot.
For the couple that has been together a long time, but recently lost their spark, Lewis offered: “If they never grabbed each other's ass in public, do something like that. Try to spice the relationship up.”
For the couple constantly working and busy with kids: “Show up at each other's work, job or whatever and just go to the bathroom and make out there. Or try to do a candlelight dinner during your lunch break. Something like that.”
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That’s coming from Lewis, who has been married nearly two years but has been with his wife for 11 years, and who posted this shot on Valentine’s Day.
Of course, this kind of banter from Lewis is always going to entertain … but perhaps not as much as him sparking dos Santos and delivering another viral post-fight interview.
Junior dos Santos wouldn't say Lewis talks too much then, would he?
