UFC 230: Daniel Cormier Warned By Derrick Lewis To Take Him Seriously

Derrick Lewis has warned Daniel Cormier to take him seriously when they clash for the heavyweight title next month.

Cormier will defend his heavyweight strap for the first time on short notice against Lewis at UFC 230 which takes place Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden, New York.

Lewis is coming off a knockout win over Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 earlier this month, with his post-fight interview making him an overnight star, resulting in his Instagram following shooting up to 1.4 million followers.

And so, the UFC have seemingly struck while the iron is hot by putting Lewis in a title fight less than a month after his last fight.

The short layoff is a contributor to Lewis being a +500 underdog at UFC 230, but for many, including Cormier, the New Orleans native is an easier fight stylistically than someone like former champion Stipe Miocic.

Cormier basically said this himself when recently asked why he accepted Lewis on short notice rather than Miocic, claiming the former only had his knockout power to rely on.

"I would not have accepted a rematch against Stipe Miocic on short notice, he's too good under these circumstances," Cormier said. "I'm not saying Derrick isn't good, but Stipe is capable of beating me in different ways. He does different things well. I think in this fight, Derrick has to knock me out to win."

Lewis more or less, responded to those comments in a recent media scrum Thursday, claiming Cormier may regret going into the event thinking it's an easy fight.

“I believe he’s thinking this is going to be an easy fight for himself,” Lewis said, as quoted on MMA Mania. “Go ahead and think that. It’s crazy I even made it this far without he training I put in before each and every fight. 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."

“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. 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.”

The Houston resident believes his rise in popularity and status makes his knockout over Volkov worth "about a million" as he later claimed he would be earning more in his fight against Cormier than his previous three this year combined.

According to MMA Fighting, those three fights totalled $880,000 in earnings for Lewis and headlining his first-ever pay-per-view in Madison Square Garden is likely to see him break the seven-figure mark which is motivating him to train even harder.

“Not just the title on the line, whenever I saw my contract and see the zeroes, I was like, ‘OK, I can start training now,’” Lewis explained. “Before, like I told y’all before, I don’t stay in the gym like everyone else does, my opponents. It’s pretty obvious, after the fight I’m laying all over the floor, I’m tired. Ready to go sit my a-- down somewhere."

“But this fight right here, I’ve really been training all day long. Drinking more water than I need to be drinking. Really taking it more serious. There’s not gonna be no excuses for myself — win, lose or draw.”