Daniel Cormier will put his UFC heavyweight title on the line against heavy-handed fan favorite Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC 230 inside Madison Square Garden.
MMA Fighting confirmed the initial report by ESPN.
Cormier (21-1, 1 NC), also the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion, was expected to challenge former champion Brock Lesnar sometime in 2019. However, with the marquee card in desperate need of a main event, the UFC pulled the trigger on booking him against Lewis.
In his most recent fight, the former U.S. Olympic wrestling captain dethroned Stipe Miocic with a first-round knockout in their champion vs. champion fight at UFC 226 in July. Prior to that, fans saw “DC” defend his light heavyweight crown with a second-round TKO over Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 in January 2018. To date, the only setbacks in Cormier’s professional career have come at the hands of former champion Jon Jones.
Lewis (21-5, 1 NC) is coming off thrilling come-from-behind knockout win over Alexander Volkov at UFC 229. During the scrap, fans saw “The Black Beast” outpointed for 14-and-a-half minutes before landing one devastating blow to Volkav’s chin late in the final round. This victory marked his 10th knockout win inside the octagon, which ties him with Cain Velasquez for the most all-time in UFC heavyweight history.
With the addition of this heavyweight title fight, here is how the entire card is shaping up:
It should also be noted, a women’s flyweight title for between Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks had been tentatively been scheduled for the main event.
The entire event will go down on November 3 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
