KEY POINTS

  • Cyril Gane won the interim heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis over the weekend
  • Gane's next assignment is a UFC title unification against Francis Ngannou
  • UFC prexy wants the Ngannou-Gane clash to happen as soon as possible

UFC 265 delivered a powerful card from top to bottom, highlighted by a powerful performance by Cyril Gane in the main event.

Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis had a great shot at making history as the promotion’s first heavyweight champion hailing from Houston, Texas as he squared off against the unbeaten technical striker in Gane for the interim heavyweight strap.

Gane stuffed any and all attempts from Lewis at getting his signature explosive power from going off as he utilized a game plan that was centered around his reach.

The French fighter used leg kicks and jabs to keep Lewis at bay extremely well to the point that Lewis only got in one significant strike in the first round.

This went on for the entirety of the fight and Gane pounced on Lewis in the third round, putting him away with a flurry of heavy strikes as the referee called for a stop to the bout at the 4:11 mark of Round 3.

The win puts Gane in the sights of current heavyweight king Francis Ngannou.

Both fighters were once training partners at the MMA Factory in France early in their careers, trained by the same coach in Fernand Lopez. But Ngannou relocated to Las Vegas and joined the Xtreme Couture gym.

The build-up is already there, and with both men evolving their skillsets to become the champions that they are today, one can expect their clash to be of titanic proportions.

Ngannou already made his intentions known after the fight, and both fighters are expected to face each other to unify the belts.

UFC president Dana White wants the fight to happen as soon as possible, but with a stacked 2021 calendar already, plus Gane expecting his child to be born soon, the next possible date for these two to meet in the Octagon is early next year.

“Some people ask me about the end of this year – it’s possible,” Gane said. “But yes, I did a lot in the last one and a half years. I’m waiting for a baby and I just want to rest a little bit. Maybe a few months. Then we’ll see.”

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