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UFC 230 is here, with only one week to go until the event. The fight that most people are excited about, is also the main event of the event.
The fight coincidentally also happens to have been added only a week ago.
In the main event of the night, Daniel Cormier is set to take on Derrick Lewis for the UFC Heavyweight Title.
The Champion, Cormier, won the title back in the UFC 226 event, where he was able to beat the then-Champion, Stipe Miocic by getting into his guard and knocking him out. Immediately after the fight, he challenged Brock Lesnar to a fight, and Lesnar confronted him.
Since then, it was assumed that Cormier would not be defending his title until Lesnar returned to the promotion after being cleared by the USADA.
However, such was not the case. The UFC desperately needed a main event for UFC 230 with the Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier fight being scrapped, and Luke Rockhold had to pull out of his bout with Chris Weidman due to injury, the card was left a little hollow.
At such a time, what better than a title fight between the likes of Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis? Both fighters have similar abilities, as well as height and reach. With this in mind, let's take a look at 3 reasons why it will be Daniel Cormier who emerges out of the shadows and wins the bout.
#3 Daniel Cormier wins - by the numbers:
Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis both share the same number of wins in their MMA career - 21. When it comes to losses, Cormier has one in his record, against Jon Jones, while Lewis has 5.
With six of his last eight victories coming with a win via a finish for Cormier, at this point, it is easy to say that Cormier is on something of a hot streak. Although he finishes 41% of his fights via knockouts, Lewis is better at that end with 86% of his fights finishing via KO.
Lewis can take a beating before getting anywhere near knocked out, which makes things all the more challenging for Cormier. With his excellent training and ability to get in the big shot, however, it will be Cormier who wins on this occasions.
#2 Derrick Lewis himself is not interested in the title
In the post-event interview, Derrick Lewis made it clear that he had no title ambitions at all. What he wanted to do the most was rest up and enjoy himself.
However, with a bout like this now, Lewis was likely asked by the UFC to compete as they desperately searched for a fight to fill in the spot for the UFC 230 main event.
Lewis later said in an interview that he did not care whether he won the title or not. He was in the fight for the love of fighting.
As a result, it is unlikely that he cares about winning, and he knows that his chances of winning are less at this point.
Lewis is a hard fighter to beat, that much is certain. With that in mind, he will not be a pushover, and it is only with a lot of effort that Cormier will beat him.
#1 Daniel Cormier is Fresh, Derrick Lewis... not so much!
Daniel Cormier last competed in the Octagon, when he fought for the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Stipe Miocic. On that occasion, he was successful in a big way, and as a result ended up getting the win and the title.
However, since then, he has not had a single battle.
In his post-match interview, Cormier had challenged Brock Lesnar who was present in the crowd. The two had a confrontation, and as a result, it was obvious that Cormier would be facing Lesnar next. However, since Cormier was unable to face Lesnar until the latter was cleared by the USADA, the fighter had a period of rest of at least 6 months on his hands.
While the UFC 230 announcement came all of a sudden, this means that Cormier goes into the fight the fresher of the two.
Derrick Lewis is coming into the fight after a hard bout against Alexander Volkov at UFC 229. He was able to win, but in the process, he lost While this fight was anything except easy to begin with, on top of that coming into it after the bout he had puts him at a very distinct disadvantage that Cormier is sure to take advantage of.
