Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier (21-1, 10 KOs, 4 SUBs) will make his first title defense against Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis (21-5, 18 KOs, 1 SUB) at UFC 230 on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view starting 10 pm ET following the FS1 prelims.
The UFC has called upon his heavyweight champion to defend his title at UFC 230, making the announcement less than a month away from the New York card. His opponent? Derrick Lewis, who scored a miraculous last second comeback win over Alexander Volkov just last month - and proceeded to give the funniest post-fight interview of all time.
What’s odd about the whole booking is that Lewis said on multiple occasions that he didn’t want a title shot, mainly because his cardio wasn’t there. But this is an era where selling pay-per-views is more important than what a fighter wants, so the UFC and its owners are capitalizing on Lewis’ sudden star turn and bribing him to fight against his wishes. At least the lovable Lewis is getting paid.
Let’s give credit to Daniel Cormier to blatantly admitting that he’s cherry picking his opponents and fighting for money. The champ literally said that he didn’t want to fight Miocic under the circumstances, but took the fight with Lewis on short notice. It’s a total win-win for the AKA captain: he gets to headline a major pay-per-view card against an outmatched opponent that just made millions of new fans. You can literally see the dollar signs in his eyes at this point.
But hey, we’re not hating on dudes trying to get paid. This is a sport where 99% of its athletes will never achieve financial stability. Plus, it gives us bettors another big scrap to make some money on. Let’s take a look at the UFC odds at BookMaker.eu and break down your best betting options.
UFC Odds at BookMaker.eu
Daniel Cormier -675
Derrick Lewis +500
Fight goes/doesn’t go to decision: +700 / -1300
Striking Stats
Significant strikes landed per minute: Cormier 3.88 / Lewis 2.87
Accuracy: Cormier 49.54% / Lewis 51.38%
Significant strikes landed per minute: Cormier 2.52 / Lewis 2.29
Defense: Cormier 57.94% / Lewis 44.91%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Cormier 1.85 / Lewis 0.52
Takedown accuracy: Cormier 42.03% / Lewis 23.81%
Takedowns defended: Cormier 78.13% / Lewis 57.14%
Submission average: Cormier 0.45 / Lewis 0
Bet on Cormier vs. Lewis odds at BookMaker.eu
Of course Cormier is a massive favorite here. Objectively, he’s better than Lewis in every area except punching power. In some cases, he’s miles ahead of the challenger: the wrestling isn’t even close. Neither is the cardio. Striking technique, clinchwork and grappling? All DC, all day.
For Lewis to win, he has to do pretty much what he does every fight. Take a beating, hang on for dear life, and hope to land a grim reaper haymaker that ends the night. He did that against Volkov, Marcin Tybura and Travis Browne. The Black Beast serves as a living example for how heart and killshot power can make up for a lot of limitations.
But man, we’re going to see an even better price on Lewis before we even consider throwing down a bet on the upset. DC is one of the smartest, grittiest fighters we’ve ever seen, and in 23 pro fights he’s only lost to Jon Jones. That’s a list that includes Stipe Miocic, Anthony Johnson, Alexander Gustafsson, Josh Barnett, Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson.
UFC Odds Pick: Fight doesn’t go to decision at -225
Simply picking Cormier doesn’t make you enough money, unless you’re just rolling in dough and can play big. That’s why we’re going with the fight not going the deistance. It won’t take DC long to get into his walkdown rhythm and really start putting pressure on The Black Beast. Whether it’s a TKO with strikes or a rear-naked, we like the chances that this ends early.
Bet on UFC odds at BookMaker.eu
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker sportsbook! Real-time spreads, totals, props and money line are all available so start betting with BookMaker today. UFC 230 takes place on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view starting 10 pm ET following the FS1 prelims.
