Derrick Lewis talks Hunt, 'black-on-black violence' with Ngannou and being in it for the money

DALLAS – The six-fight streak in a division that’s thirsty for renovation should already be enough to make us excited about Derrick Lewis. But his personality, quirky sense of humor and brutally honest interviews are certainly a big plus.

Lewis graced us with yet another inspired verbal performance during a recent media scrum in Dallas. Among other topics, “The Black Beast” talked about not being particularly excited about fighting in New Zealand, his purely money-driven title aspirations and the American “black-on-black violence” interest that he sees behind the push for him to face fellow up-and-comer Francis Ngannou.

The first order of the day was the UFC Fight Night 110 fight with Mark Hunt, who Lewis meets in Auckland, New Zealand, on June 10. While he’s happy about the matchup, Lewis joked that the location felt a little like retaliation for his complaints about going to Croatia for a UFC Fight Night 96 encounter with Gabriel Gonzaga.

“I think I need to keep my mouth quiet,” Lewis said after an open workout held in Dallas as part of fight week activities for Saturday’s UFC 211. “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.”

Once he’s done with the one activity he’s got his sights on – “throw a boomerang,” of course – Lewis (18-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) will try to add a seventh win to his current streak. Given Hunt’s (12-11-1 MMA, 7-5-1 UFC) well-known knockout artist credentials, the matchup is by no means to be taken lightly. But Lewis is excited nonetheless.

“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.”

Despite Hunt’s most recent results – a TKO loss to Alistair Overeem and loss-turned-no-contest to Brock Lesnar – Lewis thinks the veteran’s “still got it.” After all, he pondered, it’s not like he has been fighting “bums” this entire time. But, asked whether this respect for Hunt stems from earlier days admiring the veteran, Lewis responded in characteristically honest fashion.

“Not at all,” Lewis said. “I guess when he became a UFC fighter, that’s when I knew who Mark was. Besides that, I didn’t know who he was.”

Lewis is currently ranked No. 7 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings. Considering his recent path of destruction, including the most recent TKO of perennial contender Travis Browne, it’s not a stretch to picture him somewhere near the title picture should he get past Hunt.

Lewis seems to agree with that sentiment. But there’s a catch.

“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.”

In order to get that title money, of course, Lewis needs to get the title fight, which is why he’s hoping that a top-five opponent follows a possible win in New Zealand. The list of targets includes up-and-coming prospect Francis Ngannou, who currently boasts a perfect 5-0 octagon record made up exclusively of finishes.

Lewis’ desire to fight him is not at all impeded by Ngannou’s own lukewarm feelings about the “slow” Lewis.

“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.”

Ex-champ Dos Santos had yet to lose UFC 211’s headliner to heavyweight titleholder Stipe Miocic by then. Asked about his thoughts on the matchup, Lewis picked Miocic to win. The bet, however, had less to do with athletic merits than pure retribution after Dos Santos picked Hunt to beat him.

In fact, Lewis was kind of hoping the ex-champ would lose, which, he clarified, wouldn’t take anything away from a future matchup.

“I want to fight (Dos Santos), yeah,” Lewis said. “I don’t care if he’s coming off a loss. Just like Mark Hunt is coming off a loss, I don’t care, I’ll fight him. I’m not worried about fighting for the belt. If they pay me good money, yeah I’ll fight for the belt. Other than that, I don’t care.”

Going back to the constantly-mentioned matchup with Ngannou, Lewis doubled-down on his previous remarks about America “thriving” on the idea of “black-on-black” violence. This time, however, that made for an interesting interaction with a reporter from Canada who asked if he was being serious.

“I’m very serious,” Lewis answered. “Where are you from? Oh, OK, Canada. You don’t know nothing about that, then. You’re right there and you don’t even know about it.”

As for the future, Lewis revealed that the Hunt fight was already part of a “pretty good” renegotiated UFC contract that met his expectations. Clearly, Lewis is all about collecting those paychecks. But he does seem invested in making fans excited in the process.

“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.”

To watch Lewis’ full interaction with the reporters, which we can’t recommend enough, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 110, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.