A virtual carousel of main events led UFC 230's Madison Square Garden show in New York City, but Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis were the two who actually showed up when their names were called on Saturday night in a Heavyweight title fight.
Cormier was experiencing his first heavyweight title defense after winning the championship earlier this year from Stipe Miocic. The challenger, Derrick Lewis, stated as recently as last month's UFC 229 that his cardio was not in place for a title fight. The champion himself had passed on fighting at UFC 230 prior due to a hand injury.
The double champion looked to make history, as no UFC double champion had ever defended both titles successfully. With several light heavyweight title defenses under his belt, the heavyweight title was left.
The fight immediately went to the ground, as Cormier grabbed a single leg takedown and controlled Lewis for the entirety of the first round. In round two, Cormier made history when he dragged Lewis to the ground and choked him out, successfully defending the UFC Heavyweight title.
You can see an excerpt from our Fightful.com live coverage below.
Round Two: The round begins with Cormier attacking Lewis with a kick to the midsection, Lewis attacks Cormier with a combination. Lewis starts taking some power swings against Cormier, Cormier scores a takedown on Lewis and Lewis gets right back up. Cormier holds Lewis against the cage wall before dragging him to the ground, Cormier gains side control against Lewis. Cormier then gains back control on Lewis while landing strikes, Cormier locks in the rear naked choke and a tap out follows.
Official Result: Daniel Cormier def. #2 Derrick Lewis by submission via rear naked choke (2:14, R2) to retain the title
Brock Lesnar wasn't in attendance at the event, as he'd won the WWE Universal Title Friday in Saudi Arabia. Lesnar has re-entered the United States Anti-Doping Association testing pool and will look to return to the UFC in early 2019. Cormier said after the fight that he wants Lesnar to bring his new championship with him when he returns to the UFC so he can win that, too.
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