Daniel Cormier has explained Derrick Lewis’s reasons for having a dislike towards him.
Lewis referred to Cormier as a ‘scumbag’ and ‘piece of s***’ in a recent interview, which sparked debate online as to where the hatred stemmed from.
Lewis holds the record for the most knockouts in UFC history with 15 KOs and makes his 30th appearance for Dana White’s promotion at UFC Edmonton this Saturday.
He made his UFC debut in April 2014 and lost both of his only title opportunities against Cormier and Ciryl Gane.
‘The Black Beast’ is one of the very few MMA stars to have a win over former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on his record, but has won just three of his last eight bouts in the UFC.
Lewis challenged for his first title at UFC 230 in 2018, but lost to Cormier via second-round submission, subsequently missing out on heavyweight gold.
After four straight victories he got another title shot – this time against Gane at UFC 264 – but suffered another defeat after being knocked to the canvas in the third round.
Lewis was asked about any fights that he wants to get off his list at a UFC Edmonton media day on Wednesday and had some strong words for his former foe.
“Probably DC, because that one still doesn’t sit right with me,” he said.
“Do people really like DC like that?” he added. “Come on, man. I told DC to his face. That guy is a piece of s***. He’s a piece of s*** scumbag. F*** DC.”
When asked to elaborate on his comments towards the UFC Hall of Famer, Lewis said: “He knows why. DC knows why. Everyone knows why too – he disrespected Popeyes chicken, but other than that, he’s a piece of s***.”
The ‘Popeyes’ reference caused confusion among the MMA community, as fans weren’t sure if Lewis’ comments were serious or not.
But during an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday, MMA journalist Helwani called ‘DC’ to ask him about the slander thrown his way and clear up any confusion.
“I don’t know, because I haven’t seen him [Lewis] for a while,” Cormier said. “But I was pretty hard on him about retiring because he had lost a couple of fights and I was kind of telling the truth and he seemed mad at me.
“But I haven’t seen him. I’m going to see him this weekend and I’m going to ask him, ‘Yo, are you mad at me?’
“It sounds like it might be a little underlying, he might be a little p***** at me, maybe because of the way I talked about him.
“I don’t know what fight it was when he didn’t look great, but then he knocked the last guy out and I was like I’m glad he’s back!
“My opinions go with their performances and I think maybe that’s what it is. But in terms of anything else, Derrick and I don’t have many things that we do together outside [of fighting].
“We can’t be mad at each other, we already fought – it’s settled.”
‘DC’ took up commentary after retiring from MMA following a defeat to Stipe Miocic four years ago.
Miocic challenges Jon Jones for the heavyweight title on November 17 in the main event of UFC 309.
Lewis suffered three consecutive losses between 2022 and 2023 to Tai Tuivasa, Sergei Pavlovich and Serghei Spivac, which prompted Cormier to suggest he should retire.
This may be the main reason for Lewis taking a dislike to the former two-division champion ahead of his bout this Saturday.
No.11 ranked heavyweight Lewis is scheduled to fight unranked Jhonata Diniz this Saturday in Edmonton, Canada.
The Brazilian came through Dana White’s Contender Series in September last year and is only making his fourth UFC appearance.
Brandon Moreno headlines the Fight Night event as he takes on Amir Albazi in a flyweight bout, while Rose Namajunas faces Erin Blanchfield on the main card too.