Derrick Lewis has often said that he has no interest in a five-round title fight at this point in his career, but the 40-year-old ought to reconsider after stopping Tillerson Teixeira 35 seconds into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event in Nashville.

Lewis has won three out of his last four fights to re-establish himself as a top threat in the heavyweight division after a three-fight losing streak between 2022 and 2023 threatened his career. As the all-time UFC KO/TKO leader with 16, Lewis has become one of the most popular fighters in the division. His hilarious post-fight interviews have certainly played a part in his rise as well, as plenty of casual fans tune into his typically nationally televised fights just to see what he has to say afterward.

It’s no secret that the heavyweight division is in near-crisis mode after Jon Jones’ retirement forced the UFC into crowning Tom Aspinall as the interim champion at a post-fight press conference in Azerbaijan. Lewis is certainly no Jon Jones, but squaring him up against Aspinall in a prospective title fight after his statement performance on Saturday could be just what the division needs to get the ball rolling again.

Perhaps Lewis should even be the American who headlines the prospective UFC event at the White House next year against Aspinall, especially because you simply can’t trust Jones’ willingness to fight and his ability to stay clean from one month to the next.

It should be relatively easy to sell the fight to Lewis, considering the potential payday and the near certainty that a bout between the two knockout artists will end within the first three rounds anyway.

“I believe just about every fight that I’ve lost, I lost it was because I just got tired,” Lewis said. “My wife will tell you that I hate those losses because I know I was better than those guys in there. I know it would never happen again.”

Donald Trump spoke to Lewis on the phone immediately after the fight, quite literally as the decision was being read, so the presumption is that the knockout king is one of the president’s preferred participants in the White House event.

“Derrick came over and said where’s the president,” UFC President Dana White said. “I said he’s not here tonight, but he’s watching and I got him on the phone and put him on the phone with him. I have no idea what they talked about—maybe (Lewis) was trying to hook himself up with a fight on the White House fight card.”

I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet. We’ll see how it turns out a year from now.