Daniel Cormier knows a thing or two about Derrick Lewis.
“DC” battled “The Black Beast” with the heavyweight title on the line atop the UFC 230 pay-per-view (PPV) event back in late 2018, steamrolling the 265-pound fan favorite by way of second-round submission. In the years that followed, Cormier would retire in the wake of his Stipe Miocic trilogy while Lewis stayed afloat with a mediocre 5-4 record.
Perhaps the best days of the record-setting “Beast” are well behind him.
“I don’t know if Serghei Spivac is the guy,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC” (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “I’m trying not to insult Serghei Spivac, because I like the kid. I think he’s a nice guy. I think he’s a good fighter. He’s still losing to the guys that are ranked very highly, and I just don’t know if Serghei is quite at that level.”
Lewis battles Spivac in the UFC Vegas 68 headliner this weekend at APEX.
“So, I’m gonna tap in that Derrick Lewis wins the fight,” Cormier continued. “I think he’s gonna knock him out, but I do believe that … I think Derrick’s done at the top. I think Derrick’s absolutely done at the top of the division. I just don’t know if he still can’t knock out No. 10, 11, 12, 13, because I just don’t think those guys are as good as they are.”
See the top (and bottom) of the heavyweight division right here.
Lewis (26-10, 1 NC) — nearly a decade older than his Moldovan foe at 37 — has not competed since getting stopped by Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 277 last July. As for Spivac (15-3), he’s coming off back-to-back knockout wins over Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai. Expect this fight to serve as the coming out party for “The Polar Bear” if he manages to stop the aging Lewis.
If not, he’ll be just another name on this ever-growing list.