Cormier 3-1 favorite against Lesnar, but 9-1 against Lewis at UFC 230

The consensus seemed to be that Daniel Cormier's first defense against the UFC heavyweight title would be against former champion Brock Lesnar.

That's the story set in motion a few minutes after Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic to win the UFC 226 title in July, when Lesnar (5-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) went into the cage. Cormier (21-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) will defend for the first time the title against Derrick Lewis (21-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in less than a month.

Cormier was a modest 3-1 favorite against Lesnar. But soon after the announcement of Cormier's win over Lewis, an online bookmaker made this champion a favorite 9-1 favorite. Others have Cormier a favorite 8-1. The return on Lewis as an underdog is between +500 and +650.

To put this in perspective, Cormier was on the eve of a 4-1 favorite against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 in January. He was a 5-1 favorite in an untitled fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 200. You have to go back four and a half years to find him at 9-1, which was his victory against UFC 173 against Dan. Henderson a year before becoming lightweight heavyweight champion.

Cormier announced that he would retire at age 40 in March. So far, the UFC has not stripped it of its light heavyweight title, but it seems it is forced to cancel this belt, which would then be vacant for a new champion. This news came shortly after the MMA world learned that former champion and fierce rival Cormier, Jon Jones, would be eligible to return from suspension at the end of the month.

Officially, Cormier has had six straight wins since his loss to Jones at UFC 182 in January 2015. A second loss against Jones at UFC 214 was canceled when Jones failed a drug test. That's when the title was returned to Cormier, despite losing in the playoffs

Lewis has won nine of his last 10 bouts and seven of those wins are by knockout. Last Saturday, he had serious problems with the former Bellator champion, Alexander Volkov, at UFC 229, but was eliminated from the round of 16 with 11 seconds left in the fight for his third consecutive victory.

This $ 50,000 Hail Mary bonus winner now seems to have done much more than give him a win – this earned him a title shot. The biggest Lewis of all time has always been the oppressed of the UFC with a gap of +185 against Francis Ngannou at UFC 226 in July, victory that he won unanimously – and whose fight is one of the worst in the history of heavyweights.

According to official documents received by MMAjunkie on Monday, Lewis had initially received a 30-day medical suspension for a "tough fight" from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Such a period would not have allowed Lewis to return to New York on November 3.

But a new version of the medical suspensions document downloaded from the NSAC's official website today indicates that Lewis is suspended for a 21-day period, allowing him to return in time for UFC 230. It is unclear to which moment the suspension was changed.

UFC 230 will take place Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card is broadcast a la carte after the preliminary matches of FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

To learn more about UFC 230, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.