Det blev nyligen klart att Derrick Lewis kommer utmana tungviktsmästaren, Daniel Cormier, om titeln på UFC 230, som kommer äga rum den 3 november i New York.
Det tog ovanligt lång tid för UFC att komma fram till vilka som skulle utgöra huvudmatch för galan vilket lett till att Lewis och Cormier får minimalt med tid till att förbereda sig inför mötet.
I måndagens avsnitt av The MMA Hour berättade Cormier för Luke Thomas att han fortfarande dras med en skada på ena handen.
Man, I always wanted to compete, but I was hurt and I kinda set my sights on just waiting for Brock [Lesnar]. Then the UFC called me and asked me. That’s generally how it goes, but this time they said, ‘Can you fight in a few weeks?’ And I was like, ‘Well, honestly, I’m not ready to fight right now, but I could see where I stand. I could see if there’s any chance that I could get in a fight.’ They said Derrick Lewis. I said, ‘Okay, let me go see if my hand will hold up when I punch something. If it does, then yeah, I’ll go fight.’
It’s good enough to fight, It’s not 100 percent, I’m going to be honest. My fist is closing but not all the way. It feels like now I have like a badly jammed finger. Like, it feels like my finger’s just jammed really badly right now.
You ever had like a jammed finger and you just can’t really pop it? It kinda like sticks up a little bit more than the other finger? That’s where my hand is right now, so my pointer finger doesn’t close completely. Like, I can’t make a closed, tight fist, but it just feels like if I could pop it, I would be okay. The problem is I’m just too afraid to pop it. It hurts. Like, I’m not popping it. I’m just kinda hoping that if I’m sparring and I punch someone, that it pops and goes back to normal.
Handskadan har tvingat Cormier till vissa förändringar i förberedelserna inför matchen, men han är dock fortfarande säker på att han kommer gå vinnande ur mötet.
I can do a lot of things, some sparring. I’m just not hitting as hard with my right hand. I can wrestle, but I’m just trying to be very careful. I’m kinda working around it, because if something’s going to happen, I prefer it to happen in the fight than in the training room. Because how horrible would be it be if I take this fight, three weeks until the fight, and then have to pull out a week later? I’m telling you, I’m going hard though. I’m hitting dudes. I’m punching dudes and trying to get ready to fight. I’m not going to cheat myself and go into this fight with Derrick — I have to be very prepared. The guy is a big, strong, tough guy who’s there to win the fight, so I have to be prepared to do everything in there.
Cormier kommer senast från en vinst över före detta tungviktsmästaren, Stipe Miocic, på UFC 226 i juli, medan Derrick Lewis gick match så sent som förra helgen, då han besegrade Alexander Volkov via knockout i tredje ronden.
