Cormier submitted Lewis early in the second round in a contest he had controlled from the outset through repeated takedowns as the fight played out as many had expected.

The defending champion 39, had headed into the fight as strong favorite and with a remarkable unbeaten record in 14 career bouts at heavyweight.

He was facing an unlikely challenger in the form of Lewis, 33, who was appearing on consecutive main cards, having faced Russia’s Alexander Volkov just four weeks ago at UFC 229 in Las Vegas, where he secured a stunning late KO win.

Cormier had the best of the opening round, which saw most of the action was confined to the ground after he secured a takedown at the first attempt.

Lewis eventually managed to extract himself, only for Cormier to secure a second takedown and press the advantage by hammering away on the deck.

Lewis struggled free to survive the first stanza, although Cormier picked up where he left off in the second round, nullifying Lewis’ fabled punching power by securing yet another takedown before choking out the challenger, who in truth had offered little threat throughout.

The victory keeps up Cormier’s remarkable unbeaten record at heavyweight, and moves him to 22-1-0 overall, with 1 no contest.

SOUZA STUNS WEIDMAN

In the co-main event, Brazilian veteran Jacare Souza stunned home favorite Chris Weidman with a third-round TKO win in their middleweight contest. 

Coming in as a late replacement for Luke Rockhold, Souza proved too much for Weidman, who was making his return to the octagon after a 15-month lay-off.

After weathering Weidman’s jab and heavy damage to his nose in the first round, the Brazilian steadily exerted himself in a frantic contest, ending the action midway in the third round with a huge, short-range right-hand to Weidman’s head which put the American down before referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in.

The win for the veteran Brazilian, 38, will fuel calls for a title shot against the winner of the planned match-up between current middleweight champ Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum next year.   

For former middleweight king Weidman, 34, it’s a further step back after he was looking to build on his win last time out against Gastelum, but now slips to 14-4 overall.