Daniel Cormier Says He’d Defend His UFC Light Heavyweight Title If He Loses to Derrick Lewis

Daniel Cormier says he’d be willing to defend his UFC light heavyweight title if Derrick Lewis were to defeat him.

Cormier is set to defend his UFC heavyweight title against Lewis in the main event of UFC 230. The championship clash will be held inside Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 3. It’ll be Cormier’s first heavyweight title defense and Lewis’ first pay-per-view as a headliner.

Cormier recently spoke to reporters during a media scrum. He said that should Lewis pull off the upset, then he wants to defend his light heavyweight title:

“If I lost to Derrick, then who’s to say I don’t go, hey, I’m going to go defend my light heavyweight title. Now you can’t take it. Maybe that adds a whole other part to the equation. You can’t take both of my belts if I lost that one. I am the light heavyweight champion until those guys fight. If the light heavyweight champion loses his heavyweight title, well, wait, I’m willing to defend my belt. Now we have some conversations to have.”

Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson are set to compete for the UFC light heavyweight title on Dec. 29 in the main event of UFC 232. As soon as the bout begins, the light heavyweight title will be recognized as vacant. We’ll then crown a new champion barring a draw.