Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole picks winner of Daniel Cormier-Derrick Lewis title fight

If the first quarter century of the UFC has taught us anything, it is that nothing is impossible. So many fighters, counted out before the fight, beaten down during it, have found a way to win when winning seemed out of reach.

Given that understanding, there is a real possibility that when you wake up on Sunday, Derrick Lewis will be the heavyweight champion of the world.

Lewis’ critics and self-deprecating humor aside — “If I win this, all these guys, they ought to be ashamed of themselves,” he said, tongue planted firmly in cheek — he has the punching power to end his UFC 230 heavyweight title fight with Daniel Cormier at any moment.

Cormier understands this as well as anyone, and as Lewis has continued to talk himself down and brush off his chances at victory, Cormier has spoken up.

He knows as well as anyone not just what Lewis is made of, but that someone who can punch with either hand like Lewis can is never out of a fight.

But Cormier didn’t get to the penultimate fight of his career by overlooking anyone. The whole fairytale ending to his career, where he became the heavyweight champion and the second fighter in UFC history, along with Conor McGregor, to hold two weight class titles simultaneously, would quickly become a nightmare should Lewis clock Cormier on the chin and put him away.

Cormier has shaken off two one-sided defeats to archrival Jon Jones to become one of the five finest fighters in UFC history. With a victory, he’ll catapult himself into his retirement bout with ex-champion Brock Lesnar that could be one of the three largest UFC pay-per-views in history.

That fight would carry a purse in the eight-figure range for Cormier, but it would go away with a loss. As bright as Cormier is, there is little chance of him overlooking Lewis.

Lewis has done his best to undersell himself and hope to catch Cormier napping, but Cormier isn’t one to fall for such tactics. If Lewis wins, it will be because of his skill and not Cormier taking him lightly.

“This is a guy who went to jail as a youth and, honestly, when you go to prison as a kid, especially as a young black kid, a lot of people give up on you,” Cormier said. “In that cell, you tell yourself a lot of things. You say, ‘I’m going to do better when I get out. I’m going to be this and I’m going to be that.’ And the vast majority of the guys who do say those things, they never change. They go back and do the same thing.

“Derrick Lewis didn’t. Derrick Lewis became a millionaire. Derrick Lewis is fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world. There’s something different about him and that’s why I know what’s in front of me this weekend. So let him try to trick you guys. But pay very close attention to who he really is. He’s a smart guy and he isn’t tricking me.”

Lewis has lost five times in his career, twice to Shawn Jordan and once apiece to Mark Hunt, Matt Mitrione and Tony Johnson. In three of those bouts, he was knocked out. He’s won three in a row since losing to Hunt and has taken nine of his last 10.

There is little chance he’s going to out-grapple Cormier, a two-time Olympian and the captain of the 2008 U.S. Olympic wrestling team. The key for him will be to keep Cormier at a distance and to be able to stuff his takedown attempts.

Lewis will probably also rely on kicks to the head, as Cormier has shown some vulnerability to those in the past.

But Lewis’ plan won’t be too complex: Keep the fight standing, pop a consistent jab at Cormier and look for openings for the right hand.

Cormier, though, has been in with huge punchers before and has only once been wobbled, in the first of his two wins with Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. He’s also come out on top against punchers the likes of Stipe Miocic, Volkan Oezdemir and Dan Henderson.

Given that Lewis doesn’t have much of a Plan B to go with, Cormier can be fairly certain what is coming.

Cormier’s job is to watch out for that crushing right and to get his hands on Lewis as quickly as he can.

We’ve seen seemingly invincible stars, like Georges St-Pierre and Ronda Rousey, lose in dramatic fashion in the past.

Cormier has seen those bouts, too. He knows what to expect.

What I expect is for Cormier to finish Lewis on the ground in the third to set up his final, dramatic showdown next year with Lesnar.

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