Derrick Lewis (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Daniel Cormier has repeatedly said he hopes to face Jon Jones for a third time, but Derrick Lewis believes the champ-champ is avoiding another showdown with “Bones”.

The news that Lewis is going to face Cormier on Saturday night took more than a few people by surprise, as initially, it was believed “DC” would remain on the sidelines, until Brock Lesnar is eligible to fight in the new year. Further, Cormier had reported he was dealing with a hand injury; however, since then, he’s said he’s healthy enough to fight at UFC 230.

Recently Lewis was asked for his take on why Cormier agreed to face him November 3rd, and the outspoken fighter said this (quote via MMA Fighting):

“The reason I think he took the fight with me is because Jon Jones was already fighting,” Lewis said. “He didn’t want to wait until January and hear all the media talk about, ‘Why is Cormier not fighting for the 205 belt?’ They’re already saying he’s basically scared to fight Jones right now, anyway. He feels like it would be perfect to fight a guy like me that don’t have as much skills on short notice before the Jones fight and he thinks it’s going to be an easy fight for him.”

“Yeah, I think he’s scared to fight Jones,” Lewis said. “The guy beat him twice.”

Lewis is coming off a come-from-behind, KO win over Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 last month.