The roller coaster card of UFC 230 has its latest main event with the promotion moving forward with a UFC heavyweight title fight on short notice.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported Tuesday afternoon that the promotion has signed a fight between champion Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis to headline UFC 230 on Saturday, November 3rd from Madison Square Garden.
Cormier had been dealing with a hand and wrist injury, which he detailed on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on ESPN on October 1st. In the interview, Cormier stated he had broken a bone in his hand above a plate he had previously inserted. He stated the injury was the reason he would be unable to fight at UFC 232 on December 29th. Cormier is expected to be releasing a statement following the news of this fight with Lewis. Cormier informed Helwani that he was offered the fight on Monday, tested out his hand and is confident taking the fight in four weeks.
Lewis just fought on Saturday with an enormous comeback victory over Alexander Volkov with 11 seconds remaining in their bout at UFC 229. Lewis took a lot of damage in the fight and was way behind on the scorecards when he dropped Volkov and finished him.
Okamoto added that UFC president Dana White informed him that the flyweight championship between Valentina Shevchenko and Joanna Jedrzejczyk is back on for December 8th in Toronto. This means Sijara Eubanks is no longer fighting Shevchenko for the vacant title on November 3rd and was furious about the news that she is the odd one out with this change to the card:
Put me under card. Put me co main. I don’t care. But put me in for the Flyweight title shot! @danawhite@Mickmaynard2 IVE EARNED MY SHOT. THIS IS MY TIME. Quit running this thing like a circus. This is my life you’re playing with @danawhite@Mickmaynard2
Cormier vs Lewis for the heavyweight title at MSG. Who would of called that in January? Well I don’t think anyone can say Black Beast hasn’t earned it, with 10 wins in his last 11 fights. Still, he admitted he wasn’t ready for a title shot, he said he broke his finger against Volkov, and Cormier has said he has a broken hand. These guys must of been offered a lot of money to save this card.
It should be noted that Stipe Miocic pushed for a rematch with Cormier at MSG and they chose to go with Lewis who just fought a few nights ago. I guess Mousasi was right, Instagram followers are what really matters in the rankings. Still, this fight is a much better main event then Eubanks Vs Shevchenko. Eubanks got screwed here, but I don’t think anyone paying to watch this event is going to shed tears over that.
So did they go with Lewis because
a. He’s got newfound popularity after this past weekend on a very well bought card
b. He can’t beat Cormier on this short rest and admitted he isnt ready for a title fight
OR BOTH?!
Seriously, this company has become less the bellweather of the sport and more of a promotion akin to pro wrestling. God forbid Stipe won the title back in a deserved rematch before Brock and Cormier can follow up on their lil “angle”
Also, completely unrelated but what happen to Mickey Gall? Felt like he would be used a lot more after his Punk fight - he had a look, spoke well, and was seen on a well purchased card vs Punk. Has this guy fought since?
As far as going with Lewis over Stipe, I’ll play devils avocate: Lewis has earned a title shot. Stipe Vs DC was just a few months ago and ended via first round KO, so I can see why they would want to put on a fresh matchup, especially considering they just lost Diaz/Poirier. And I can also see DC not being keen on fighting Stipe on 3 weeks notice with a broken hand. That is a fighter that you need to be at your best against.
As far as Mickey Gall goes, after beating Punk he got a win over Sage Northcutt, Lost to Randy Brown at UFC 217, and then came back about a month ago to pick up a first round submission against George Sullivan. He’s been making some questionable call outs, like retired Dan Hardy, Sage Northcutt whom he’s already beat and Diego Sanchez. I think the loss and calling for those kind of fights has kind of cooled him off, which is probably why you haven’t heard too much about him lately.
Thanks for the update on Gall! I wonder if he is calling out those names as he thinks it gets him a fight on a main card. Gee, remember when Sage Northcut was all the rage. What’s he like, 22 now?
Like your thoughts on why Lewis over Stipe. I would LOVE to see Lewis win and call out Brock in some ridiculous manner
They hope this is a lay up with Cormier because of Lewis’ poor conditioning and being beat up. But if you his match on Saturday I can see him knocking Cormier out and hurting his legacy.
Brock Lesnar vs Derrick Lewis would be a hell of a build up lol. Sage has been doing well, he’s on a 3 fight win streak right now. And yeah I think that’s Mickeys intention, but calling out guys who’s primes were 10 years ago works better in the world of pro wrestling then MMA lol. The funny thing is, Diego Sanchez Vs Mickey Gall actually makes sense right now, but by calling him out, people looked at Mickey as though he was looking for easy fights. Still, he has a really bright future at 170.
All these dominant champions who got instant remarches after losing that preceded Stipe, shows how much of a money chasing farce this company has become.
To be fair, the only champs who’ve gotten immediate rematches in the last couple years are Garbrandt and Joanna (who coincidently lost their titles on the same card). Also Jose Aldo took the short notice rematch against Max after Frankie fell out. That being said, a few were scheduled but fell through, like Weidman/Rockhold 2 at 199 and Velasquez/Werdum at 196.
Also agreed on your second point. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see the UFC do something like running a Saudi card. If it makes money, they’ll go for it. WME IMG bought the company when they were at their hottest, and didn’t expect Conor, Ronda and Brock to fight a combined once since 2016 ended. They just reek of being desperate for big money events right now, and I think it’s rubbing a lot of fans the wrong way.
The only real problem I have with this (and it’s a big one) is having Lewis fight 3 weeks after taking a metric shit ton of punches to the head in his last fight.
As far as “ruining” any potential match ups. If Lewis wins, his stock will rise a ton. Will Lesnar vs Cornier really do more business than Lesnar vs Lewis who just won 2 fights in a month which includes taking the title from Cormier? The fight is shady but it’s also pretty intriguing.
Lewis Has to be medically cleared that’s not really on the UFC he must have passed his post fight medicals or he would have his License medically suspended. (crazy as appeared to have an broke orbital or at least a nasty knuckle in the eye)
I might be bias as I am a huge DC fan but I think DC vs Lesnar would do better business (surely the better fight) than Lewis vs Lesnar. DC is pretty Popular (well Known) at least playing second fiddle to Jon Jones not sure how famous Lewis is other then his recent notoriety. However for reasons I don’t Understand DC gets heat with MMA fans and plays the heel against Jon Jones and most fights. he is an American Olympian I don’t get how he is heel I guess he is Kurt angle hated during his career and then loved after its ends. So In MMA fans minds Lesnar vs DC is a heel vs heel fight at least Lewis is a Face vs heel fight. So I guess it depends what fans want to pay for two guys they hate or one guy they really like vs a guy they hate.
Big Dave said in Observer Radio today that Lewis actually was told no contact until November 6th but somehow that’s been dropped. Maybe it’s a state by state licensing thing?
Either way, I’m not doctor, but I suspect fighting less than a month after getting rocked by a massive Russian for 14 minutes can’t be too good for ya.
