Cyril Gane is for real ladies and gentlemen. It took the new interim heavyweight champion just three rounds to finish Derrick Lewis via TKO at UFC 265. Spoiling Lewis’ homecoming in Houston on Saturday night.
With heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou healthy and ready to fight in a matter of months, the necessity of an interim title being awarded at UFC 265 was very much in question.
That didn’t seem to be too much of a distraction from the fight itself, however, which was as fan-friendly as they come. Fan favorite Derrick Lewis was looking at his second shot at gold Saturday, with the home field advantage. French striker Ciryl Gane was the favorite heading in, however, despite being in enemy territory.
Using a very patient gameplan, Gane was able to avoid the power strikes from Lewis using leg kicks, stabbing front kicks to the midsection and a defensive game plan that limited Lewis to very few landed strikes.
Lewis tried to force the action at times by countering when he would eat a leg kick, but reaching to land a strike left him wide open for a counter from Gane.
On the edge of our seats for this one 😳 #UFC265 pic.twitter.com/Km8yykha1a
— UFC (@ufc) August 8, 2021
In the third round Gane was able to hurt Lewis and then swarm with strikes. It took the ref quite a bit of time to stop the fight, but in the end there was no denying that Gane is the next man to face undisputed UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Fans took to social media to complain about the fight early on, as it reminded many of Lewis vs. Ngannou from UFC 226. But by the third round, those same fans were likely excited to see Gane vs. Ngannou to unify the heavyweight belts.
Official Result: Ciryl Gane def. Derrick Lewis by TKO, Round 3, 4:11
