Daniel Cormier explained the reasons why Derrick Lewis doesn’t like him.

Lewis called Cormier a “bastard” and a “shit” in a recent interview, which sparked an online debate about the origins of the hatred.

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Lewis holds the record for most knockouts in CFU history with 15 knockouts 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 his only two title opportunities to Cormier and Ciryl Gane.

“The black beast” is one of the very few MMA stars will have a victory over the former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on his record, but has only won three of his last eight UFC fights.

Lewis fought 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 earned another title shot – this time against Gane at UFC 264 – but suffered another defeat after being knocked out in the third round.

Lewis was asked about fights he wants 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 work for me,” he says. said.

“Do people really like DC like that? he added. “Come on, man. I told him in DC to his face. This guy is shit. He’s a dirty bastard. Damn DC.

When asked to expand on his comments toward 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 shit.

The reference to “Popeyes” caused confusion within the MMA community, as fans were unsure whether Lewis’ comments were serious or not.

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But during an episode of The Ariel Helwani show Wednesday, Helwani, MMA journalist called “DC” to question him about the slander thrown at him and clear up any confusion.

“I don’t know, because I haven’t seen him (Lewis) in a while,” Cormier said. “But I was pretty hard on him about retiring because he had lost a few fights and I was kind of telling the truth and he seemed mad at me.

“But I didn’t see it. I’m going to see him this weekend and I’m going to ask him, ‘Yo, are you mad at me?’

“It seems like it might be a little bit underlying, he might be a bit of an asshole to me, maybe because of the way I talked about him.

“I don’t know what fight it was so he didn’t look great, but then he took out the last guy 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 for the rest, Derrick and I don’t do a lot of things together outside of (fighting).

“We can’t blame each other, we’ve already fought, it’s settled.”

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‘DC’ took over commentary after retiring from MMA following a loss 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 straight losses between 2022 and 2023 against Tai Tuivasa, Sergei Pavlovich and Serghei Spivac, prompting Cormier to suggest he should retire.

This is perhaps the main reason why Lewis dislikes the former two-division champion ahead of his fight this Saturday.

No. 11-ranked Lewis set to face unranked Jhonata Diniz this Saturday in Edmonton, Canada.

The Brazilian competed on Dana White’s Contender Series in September last year and is making just his fourth UFC appearance.

Brandon Moreno headlines the Fight Night event as he takes on Amir Albazi in a flyweight bout, while Rose Namajunas also takes on Erin Blanchfield on the main card.