The UFC has officially moved on from Jon Jones. The company has announced that they will tap Derrick Lewis to challenge defending heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for the title. The promotion is planning for an August 7th fight date at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
#UFC targeting @francis_ngannou vs @Thebeast_ufc rematch for #UFC265 on Aug. 7 in Houston #MMA https://t.co/cd7kBqzvhn
— MMA mania (@mmamania) May 27, 2021
When UFC 265 takes place in the Lone Star State this summer, expect these two to go to war in the main event for the strap. This is a fight that certainly makes sense as Lewis resides and trains in Houston, representing the Silverback Fight Club as he’ll have over two more months to prepare for the upcoming contest.
The Toyota Center recently held a sellout crowd for UFC 262 as the hometown faithful witnessed Charles Oliveira defeat Michael Chandler to win the UFC Lightweight Championship back on May 15. As of now, the official fight that will take place is women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes going up against Julianna Peña for the title.
As for Ngannou-Lewis, their first bout took place in July of 2018 at UFC 226 where Lewis defeated Ngannou by unanimous decision where the anticipated fight failed to meet expectations. Lewis is the all-time leading knockout artist with 12 while Ngannou has 10, which is not far off. When these two hook up in the Octagon, this fight will be expected to top the first one since it was a serious letdown. The question still remains who can seriously knock out the other as both men combine for 22 knockouts as Lewis had a 49 percent striking accuracy. Ngannou is at 38 percent.
