Daniel Cormier (21-1-0) put his UFC heavyweight title on the line against Derrick Lewis (21-5-0) on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in a fight headlining UFC 230.
Lewis, a huge underdog listed at +450, is fighting for the second time in less than a month as he was part of UFC 229, where he earned a comeback TKO victory in the third round with 11 seconds to go over Alexander Volkov.
The 39-year-old Cormier has the advantage in several aspects over Lewis such as speed, experience, wrestling skill and most importantly stamina which should favor him if the fight goes to the cards.
Lewis relies more on his power to win fights (18 of his 21 wins came by KO) and is not considered fit enough to last the entire five-round limit in this fight.
Cormier is at the end portion of his career and by taking part in this fight he’s simply aiming for a strong payday and a big opportunity to be part of a huge show at one of the world’s most famous arenas.
Lewis, who’s won nine of his last 10 fights, is a crude and rude fighter, who considers himself more of a brawler than a mixed martial artist, and that makes him fun to watch even if he doesn’t have the skills to win this fight or last long against Cormier.
Lewis doesn’t give up and is never really out of a fight because he uses his power to win bouts where he’s losing by points. Another thing to consider is that lately when Lewis wins, he does it early, as seven of his last 9 wins have come via first-round KOs
If Lewis is planning to win this fight, he’d better find a way to land a big bomb on Cormier and put him out early, because otherwise, he’s not likely to even last the five rounds due to Cormier’s speed and better overall skills.
Prediction: Look for Cormier to win early in the second round by submission.
