Cormier to defend heavyweight title vs. Lewis at UFC 230
Daniel Cormier will defend his heavyweight championship for the first time against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 in New York City on Nov. 3.
"The fight is done," UFC president Dana White said, via Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
Cormier also confirmed he's accepted the fight.
A report emerged Monday evening that the promotion was looking to book Cormier and Lewis for the main event of UFC 230 in an effort to bolster the upcoming card.
Previously, a women's flyweight title match between Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks was set to headline the event. Shevchenko will now face Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the belt at UFC 231 in Toronto on Dec. 8, according to White. Shevchenko and Jedrzejczyk were initially scheduled to meet at UFC 231, but Eubanks replaced Jedrzejczyk when the match was advanced to UFC 230 because the 31-year-old Polish mixed martial artist needed more preparation time.
Cormier hasn't fought since capturing the heavyweight belt from Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 in July. The 39-year-old also holds the light heavyweight championship, though the UFC is expected to strip him of that title in the near future if it's able to finalize a fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.
Lewis, meanwhile, is fresh off a last-second knockout victory over Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 on Saturday.