Derrick Lewis says he will be ‘100 percent going into this fight’ against Daniel Cormier

Derrick Lewis was just in an absolute war with Alexander Volkov at UFC 229. Volkov had arguably dominated the first fourteen minutes of the fight, this before Lewis knocked him out with just seconds left on the clock in round three.

Lewis did not only produce a fantastic finish at UFC 229, but his post-fight interview also gained him thousands of followers. With his stock as high as ever, the UFC has subsequently booked “The Black Beast” to challenge Daniel Cormier for the promotions heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden.

Although Derrick Lewis appeared to take a beating against Volkov at UFC 229, he recently assured everyone he is 100% healthy ahead of his title fight against Cormier.

“I will be 100 percent going into this fight,” Lewis said at a UFC 230 media event in Las Vegas. “I went to the doctor and got cleared. Everything checked out pretty good. They basically said I was good to fight.

Despite Lewis allegedly being 100% healthy, many are counting him out in this upcoming fight with “DC”.

That may not be a wise move, as Lewis has gone 9-1 over his last 10 fights, thus staking his claim as the top contender in the heavyweight division.

“I believe he’s thinking this is going to be an easy fight for himself,” Lewis said. “Go ahead and think that. It’s crazy I even made it this far without the training I put in before each and every fight,” Lewis said. “I’m serious, I don’t stay in the gym each day like my opponents. I spend probably 30 minutes (training), five minutes sitting and five minutes on my phone posting memes and stuff.

“I go into every fight with a bad back and overweight and a damn-near diabetic. It doesn’t matter to me that he’s coming into a fight with just a bad hand. That’s good for him, then.”

It will be a tough task for Lewis to defeat Cormier as cardio issues have been a cause for concern for “The Black Beast” throughout his career. To make matters worse, he is going against Cormier who is known to be a cardio machine. Even with all the factors appearing to go against Lewis, he is still confident headed into the biggest matchup and payday of his career.

“As long as I’m 100 percent, I’m in good shape. I don’t care what he’s going to do or what he thinks he can do,” Lewis added. “I’m just going to worry about what I can do. … If you don’t take me serious, it’s a mistake. I want him to take me serious, I don’t want no excuses or nothing like that. I can’t wait for that fight.”

Do you think Derrick Lewis can defeat Daniel Cormier at UFC 230?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/18/2018.