UFC 230 News: Daniel Cormier "Not 100%" For Title Fight Against Derrick Lewis
What's the story?
Ahead of the big showdown for the main event at UFC 230 between "The Black Beast", Derrick Lewis, and Daniel Cormier, the latter had some interesting information to share about his physical condition leading up to the fight.
The current two-division champion seems to be still recovering from a finger injury that he sustained after his fight against Stipe Miocic at the headliner of UFC 226, in July earlier this year.
In case you didn't know...
Following his first-round knockout victory against Stipe Miocic, Daniel Cormier was all set to take the rest of the year off and return for his big money fight against Brock Lesnar, for the heavyweight title in 2019. However, the UFC called him to see if he could fight in a few weeks time for the main event at UFC 230.
"The Black Beast" has successfully amassed one of the sport's greatest track records till date, by securing 9 victories from his last 10 bouts with the UFC. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Lewis said that he would not fight so quickly, especially coming off of a physically tasking fight against Alexander Volkov. However, he did say that if the money was right, he wouldn't mind taking the double-champion on for a title fight.
The heart of the matter
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Cormier expressed his thoughts moving into his upcoming title defense against Derick Lewis. During the interview, he explained that the plan was to wait it out for the Brock Lesnar fight, but the UFC's desperation to put together the main event, eventually made him sign the contract. This is what he had to say about his injured finger:
“It’s good enough to fight, it’s not 100 percent, I’m going to be honest. My fist is closing but not all the way. It feels like now I have like a badly jammed finger. Like, it feels like my finger’s just jammed really badly right now.
Here is a look at his interview with MMA Fighting
Derrick Lewis, however, had to pitch in with his side of the story. In an interview with MMA Junkie, he said that even for an opportunity as big as a title fight against Daniel Cormier, a four-week preparation camp is quite an ask.
Lewis did take some serious physical damage during his previous fight against Alexander Volkov. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has been pushed by the UFC into waiving off a 30-day medical suspension to ensure that fight fans witness this epic encounter.
What's next?
Although Derrick Lewis may technically be a relatively easy match-up for Daniel Cormier, the two-division champion cannot afford to take the fight lightly. It will be interesting to watch out for a great upset, in Cormier possibly losing his heavyweight title to "The Black Beast".
Will Lewis get a shot at Brock Lesnar if he manages to overcome Daniel Cormier?
Leave your opinions and comments below!