UFC Fight Night 138 - Volkan vs. Smith --- UFC Fight Night 139 - The Korean Zombie vs Rodriguez
UFC 230: Cormier vs. Lewis is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will be held on November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States.
Fight card
Main Card
Heavyweight Daniel Cormier (c) vs. Derrick Lewis For the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Middleweight Chris Weidman vs. Ronaldo Souza
Middleweight David Branch vs. Jared Cannonier
Middleweight Karl Roberson vs. Jack Marshman
Middleweight Derek Brunson vs. Israel Adesanya
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Featherweight Jason Knight vs. Jordan Rinaldi
Catchweight (127.2 Ibs) Sijara Eubanks vs. Roxanne Modafferi
Featherweight Julio Arce vs. Sheymon Moraes
Welterweight Ben Saunders vs. Lyman Good
Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Lightweight Matt Frevola vs. Lando Vannata
Featherweight Shane Burgos vs. Kurt Holobaugh
Heavyweight Adam Wieczorek vs. Marcos Rogério de Lima
Background
A UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between champion Daniel Cormier (also the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion) and Derrick Lewis is expected to headline the event.
A bout for the vacant UFC Women's Flyweight Championship between former UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship challenger Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks was expected to serve as the event headliner. Shevchenko was initially expected to face former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 231 for the title, but due to UFC 230 being in need of a main event, she was booked against Eubanks sooner. Eubanks was expected to face Jessica Eye at UFC 232, before being moved to this bout. After the UFC announced Cormier/Lewis on October 9, they confirmed this bout was canceled and that Shevchenko would return to her original bout at UFC 231. Eubanks will remain on the event and will face former title challenger Roxanne Modafferi.
A middleweight bout between former interim UFC Middleweight Championship challenger (as well as 2000 Olympic silver medalist and world champion in freestyle wrestling) Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa was scheduled for the event. However, Romero indicated in mid-August that while he has been cleared to fight, his doctors have recommended that he wait another four to five months (early 2019) to allow facial injuries incurred during his most recent fight to fully heal.
A lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and former UFC Lightweight Championship challenger and The Ultimate Fighter 5 lightweight winner Nate Diaz was expected to take place at the event. However on October 10, it was reported that Poirier pulled out due to injury and the bout was cancelled.
A bantamweight bout between Brian Kelleher and Domingo Pilarte was expected to take place at the event. However on October 10, it was reported that Pilarte pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Montel Jackson.
Sultan Aliev was expected to face Lyman Good at the event, but he pulled out due to injury. He was replaced by Ben Saunders.
A middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champions Luke Rockhold (also former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion) and Chris Weidman was expected to take place at the event. The two previously met at UFC 194 where Rockhold defeated then champion Weidman with a fourth round knockout. However, Rockhold pulled out on October 19 due to multiple injuries. He was replaced by another former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo Souza, who was initially scheduled to face former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch in the event. Branch will now face Jared Cannonier.
Ruslan Magomedov was expected to face Marcos Rogério de Lima at the event. However on October 24, it was reported that he pulled out of the event due to visa issues and was replaced by Adam Wieczorek.
At the weigh-ins, Eubanks and Kelleher both missed the required weight for their respective fights. Eubanks weighed in at 127.2 pounds, 1.2 pound over the flyweight non-title fight limit of 126. Meanwhile, Kelleher weighed in at 137 pounds, 1 pound over the bantamweight non-title fight limit of 136. Both of them were fined 20 percent of their purse, which went to their opponents Modafferi and Jackson. In turn, Kelleher was pulled due to illness on the day of the event.
Oct 23 - Updated fight card & background
Oct 25 - Updated fight card & background
Nov 02 - Updated background
Hats of to Cormier for defending his title successfully. I just wish he wouldnt say "yeeey I am the beeeest" after winning lol. But hey I get it, he is just putting more gasoline on the already burning fire of disrespectful people wanting to see the champ getting ko the f out to irritate the hell out of them. He he.
