Daniel Cormier made his first successful defense of the UFC Heavyweight title, defeating Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC 230 from Madison Square Garden in New York City. With the win, as MMA Fighting states, Cormier, who is also the UFC light heavyweight champion, now becomes the first fighter in UFC history to successfully retain both the UFC Heavyweight Championship and UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Cormier won the UFC Heavyweight title back in July, at UFC 226, defeating Stipe Miocic via first-round knockout. He officially won the 205-pound title back in May 2015, at 187 (a UFC 214 title loss to Jon Jones was overturned to a no contest and Cormier was reinstated as champion).

Cormier vs Lewis

As described by USA Today's MMAJunkie, Cormier's strategy, as expected by most, was to take Lewis to the ground and use his wrestling capabilities to work the bigger man over. Lewis, the challenger who entered the fight ranked No. 2 in the UFC's heavyweight rankings, earned the title shot after a come-from-behind third-round knockout win against Alexander Volkov, last month at UFC 229, where a brawl took place.

This bout was a short-notice fight for both men, following the cancelation of Nate Diaz vs Dustin Poirier, and public outcry following an announcement of Valentina Shevchenko vs Sijara Eubanks. Cormier got his first takedown about a minute into round one, and he spent the rest of the round striking and pressuring Lewis against the cage or on the mat.

This continued into the second round, where Cormier landed yet another early takedown.

Then when Lewis attempted to stand back up, Cormier ankle-picked him, forcing Lewis back to the ground. Lewis, in an attempt to return to his feet, gave up his back, allowing for the two-weight champion to sink in a rear-naked choke and score the submission win.

Cormier has hinted that he'll retire at the age of 40, which he turns in March. It's expected that his retirement fight will be at UFC 235, in March, in Las Vegas, against former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. However, a lot of people hope for a trilogy bout with the only man to have ever defeated him, Jon Jones.

Jones is finally eligible to return from his doping suspension.

Elsewhere on the card

In the co-main event, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza scored a third-round, come-from-behind knockout against New York native and former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, in a fight that earned Fight of the Night honors, giving both men $50,000 each.

Jared Cannonier, after competing at heavyweight and light heavyweight, made his middleweight debut with a second-round knockout of David Branch. Karl Roberson scored a unanimous decision win over Jack Marshman, while Israel Adesanya finished Derek Brunson and nabbed a TKO win right before the end of the first round. Cannonier and Adesanya earned performance bonuses of $50,000 for their wins.
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