Former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier reveals he was out of shape; didn't train for the Derrick Lewis fight
November 3rd marked two years since one of the greatest UFC Heavyweight Championship fights fans have ever seen. Daniel Cormier made history at the iconic Madison Square Garden by defending his title against Derrick Lewis.
UFC 230 saw Daniel Cormier become the first fighter in the company's history to hold and successfully defend two titles simultaneously.
Daniel Cormier submitted Derrick Lewis with a rear-naked choke at the 2:14 mark in the second round at the historic venue. However, DC might not have come as prepared to the fight as he looked.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on ESPN MMA, Daniel Cormier reminisced about the fight and how he almost missed it because of a sneeze.
Daniel Cormier admits to being out of shape for Derrick Lewis fight
Daniel Cormier talked about how Mick Maynard called him three weeks before the bout, after Derrick Lewis had knocked out Alexander Volkov, to ask him if he would take the fight.
DC had little time to prepare for the first defense of his Heavyweight belt. To prove his point, he shared the story of how he had to wear fight shorts one whole size bigger than he usually wore inside the Octagon.
"The Derrick Lewis fight was the first time that my shorts had to be 2X. I have never had 2X fight shorts! They've always been XL. I had to get 2X because they were squeezing my legs so much. I was like 'There's no way that I could fight with my legs being squeezed so much on the thighs."
Daniel Cormier showed up at MSG with cortisone shots to his bad wrist. He was feeling fine on the morning of the fight, until he injured his back badly while sneezing.
This is a well-known story and one that he had talked about back in 2018 as well. He could not even go for his morning run, and DC's team was considering pulling out of the fight.
Daniel Cormier thanked Heather Linden, the Director of Physical Therapy at UFC, for bringing him back to his feet and getting him ready for the fight.
"Thank goodness for Heather Linden! She massaged me and everything else for two and a half hours in the middle of the day and told me to lay on a hot pack... I lay on top of that heating pad for two hours. After all that massage, eventually I got up and was like 'Wow, I can fight!' I almost lost the heavyweight championship without actually fighting."
Derrick Lewis is set to fight Curtis Blaydes in the main event of UFC Vegas 16 on November 28th.