Derrick Lewis, better known in UFC circles as “The Black Beast,” said his legs have been chewed up from ant-infested waters and his thighs burn from braving the strong currents of Houston flood waters.

In truth, he’s risking his life trying to save Houston people in need – even if one of them, he said, brought with him a controversial and divisive symbol linked to racism in America.

“I don’t care about that,” Lewis told MMAjunkie. “I live in Texas. It ain’t nothing new. I’ve been living in the South all my life, and it ain’t nothing I hadn’t seen before or discussed about. I don’t care about that type of stuff. I just wanted to help him.”

Lewis lives in Houston, a city currently in a state of crisis as Hurricane Harvey dumps seemingly endless streams of water into the streets, flooding massive portions of the city.Earlier today, both major airports were closed until further notice because of the conditions. The situation is so dire, even city officials have been forced to limit their assistance.

“I’ve always been that type of guy that I like to help people more than I like to help myself,” Lewis told MMAjunkie. “And so I just seized the opportunity. The police, they kept getting on the news and saying that they’re not going to help no one unless it’s a life-or-death situation. Basically, the firefighters said the same thing.”

So Lewis has been in the streets for the past two days, responding to distress messages on Facebook and phone calls to friends, using his massive Chevy truck to help usher folks to dry ground.

“Mostly, we’re trying to get all the families that have kids,” Lewis said.

And “him.”

Sunday night, Lewis was able to help a family in need, saving them from the fast-rising waters. It was a noble gesture, of course, but one made perhaps even more special due to an object he said one of the flood victims carried that is inextricably linked to racism: a Confederate flag.

“I picked up one guy and his family, his wife – he just kept apologizing to me, because all he really had was his clothes, and he wanted to take his Confederate flag,” Lewis said. “He wanted to take that with him, and he just apologized and said, ‘Man, I’ll sit in the back of your truck, man. I don’t want to have my flag inside of your truck like this.’ I said, ‘Man, I’m not worried about that.’

“He’s saying, ‘You never know if you ever need someone, so …’ – I already knew where he was going with it. I just said, ‘Don’t even worry about it. It’s OK. I don’t care about that.’ His wife kept hitting him and saying, ‘You should have just left it.'”

Lewis insists he didn’t give it a second thought and will continue to offer assistance to anyone in need, especially with even more rain and strong wind expected to hit Houston in the next several days.

“It’s supposed to get pretty bad in the next few days because it’s already supposed to turn into another hurricane,” Lewis said. “It’s a tropical storm right now, and they said it’s heading toward the water and is going to turn right back into a Category 1 and head right back in our area. By Thursday, we should be having another hurricane.”

Lewis (18-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC, who is currently ranked No. 12 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, is scheduled to fight in a little less than six weeks against No. 3-ranked Fabricio Werdum (21-7-1 MMA, 9-4 UFC) at UFC 216 on Oct. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. However, he said any concern of that contest is on hold during this time of need.

“Right now, I’m really not worried about the fight,” Lewis said. “I’m just worried about making sure my kids and my family is OK and everyone else around me. The fight is going to come.”

In the meantime, the always jovial Lewis said he’ll continue to help out in his community and joked that anyone hoping to assist in his efforts would be best served by securing him some fried chicken.

“Just send me some Popeye’s,” Lewis said with a laugh. “Give me that 12-piece.

“No, we’re good. We appreciate it.”

For more on UFC 216, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.