Don’t expect Derrick Lewis to complain about fighting Ciryl Gane over Francis Ngannou next.
On August 7, Lewis will share the Octagon with Gane in the main event of UFC 265. The bout will be contested for the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. Ngannou is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion but the decision was made to create this interim title fight.
Lewis had a media scrum backstage at UFC 264. “The Black Beast” told media members that as long as he’s getting paid, it doesn’t matter if he’s fighting Gane or Ngannou (via MMAJunkie.com).
“I really don’t care. They told me what I’m getting paid if I’m fighting Francis, and they told me what I’m going to be paid if I fight Ciryl, so it doesn’t matter to me, so I don’t care. I’m still getting paid the same like I was getting paid to fight Francis.”
Lewis then gave his assessment of Gane’s fighting style.
“I don’t care who it was. Ciryl Gane, he’s a good opponent, he’s dangerous. He’s boring most of the time, but he’s smart. He’s a smart fighter, so it’s still gonna be a fun fight with me. It doesn’t matter if he’s gonna try and stay away and do all these little fancy kicks and stuff like that, but I’m still gonna have my moment in the fight.”
Lewis is the last man to defeat Ngannou back in 2018. He did so via unanimous decision in an uneventful fight. Lewis blamed back issues for the lack of action.
