By Tony Reid

FloCombat: Your huge win over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC Fight Night 82 really put you on the map. Is that the fight of your life to this point?

Derrick Lewis: Yeah. In the Gonzaga fight, I finally put the combos together that my coach and I have been working on for the past few years now. It felt good to put everything together in a fight that we have been doing in training camp.

That looked like a pretty solid week for you. You had the big win, then it was your birthday. You were hanging with Nick Diaz. What was the biggest takeaway of the week?

The hangover the next day. I have a headache right now just thinking about it. It was the worst plane ride home, too. It was a bad headache.

Give us the backstory on “The Black Beast” nickname. How did that come to be the one that stuck?

I trained at Silverback Fight Club, named after the Silverback gorilla. They are black. I am black. I pounded my chest like the gorilla and the owner of the gym used to call me “The Black Beast,” and it stuck. Everything I do is because of Silverback Fight Club… pounding on my chest, slamming on the ground, all of that. That’s where it all comes from.

Where did your post-fight celebration on the Octagon floor came from?

It was really supposed to be a gorilla stance, but I created it a little differently.

Before the UFC and MMA, you were a tow-truck driver for AAA. What that like in comparison to what you are doing today?

It’s like night and day. Most of the time I would sit in my truck just staring at other people hoping they would get into an accident or something. It was kind of boring.

You are one of the most exciting guys to watch right now, but who are your favorite fighters to watch in the cage?

Hector Lombard, Anderson Silva; I used to like Rampage. It used to be Jon Jones, but now I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He can’t finish fights now. I don’t like watching him anymore—he’s boring.

In a recent tweet, you said you would vote for Hillary or Bernie, but now that you are in a higher tax bracket, you are voting for Donald Trump.

Donald Trump all the way, man. Make America great again. It’s nice to get paid for fighting, but it’s like, do I really have to give this much to the government? My goodness. This is why everyone is so mad at the Democrats. This is too much money to give away. No wonder why every poster I see, everybody is getting mad at all the people on welfare. No wonder. I see it. I’m mad, too.

You wanted to cut off an extremity to fight Conor McGregor and cash one of those red-panty-night checks. Are you still willing to lose a limb to fight him?

If they would have got me for the fight, I would be good right now. Nate Diaz took my spot. It’s all good, though. I could have been ballin’ right now. I could be in Cabo right now.

You have been calling out Roy Nelson for a while now. You got the fight at Fight Night Dos Anjos vs. Alvarez. Why did you want to fight Big Country so bad?

I had a few fights where I felt like I should have gotten the bonus, but it didn’t happen that way because my opponents wanted to make it a boring fight by dragging me down and keeping me on the ground with a bunch of takedowns and stuff. I feel like this Roy fight will be a standup war, and I believe one of us will get the "Performance of the Night" for sure.

How do you see the fight playing out here in July?

It’s not going to go to the judges—that makes me feel even better about the fight. I want to get in there and get out, no matter how it goes. I will give it my all. I can’t not give my all whenever I call someone out. You can expect my best performance. It’s going to be fun.

When did you first realize you had the ability to knock people out?

I guess during a couple of street fights back in the day. There were a few of them, but I don’t want to talk about them. I don’t want them to come back to haunt me.

Before you made the jump to MMA, you were boxing under the former heavyweight champion of the world, the legendary George Foreman. What was that like?

It was great. I was just getting into fighting and I winded up connecting with George Foreman. To be around him and to see what kind of person he was, was a dream come true. He is like my grandfather. He and my grandfather have the same demeanor. They are both really intelligent, quiet and respectful.