Daniel Cormier to Defend UFC Heavyweight Title against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230

On Monday it was reported that talks were in place for a UFC title fight between former Cowboy wrestler Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis. That bout didn’t take long to materialize. The UFC officially announced Tuesday that Cormier will defend his heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis on November 3 at UFC 230 in New York City at Madison Square Garden.

NYC, we have your MAIN EVENT!

The HW strap is on the line as ?? @DC_MMA faces off against @TheBeast_UFC at #UFC230. pic.twitter.com/Ltvka3j4H6

— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2018

In his post fight interview from UFC 229 Lewis indicated he wasn’t ready to fight for the title stating “I ain’t trying to fight for no title right now. Not with no gas tank like that”.

The promise of a big pay check may have eased some of Lewis’ concerns about his cardio.

On paper Cormier will be a heavy favorite. You’d expect him to be able to take Lewis down with ease, but there’s no doubt that Lewis has the power to knock people out, so this is certainly a risky fight for Cormier.