Francis Ngannou VS Derrick Lewis 2 Is Targeted For September

One of the most highly anticipated rematches between Francis Ngannou VS Derrick Lewis which was previously targeted for the August card has now been postponed to September. No official announcement has been made for this event but according to reports surfacing the fight has been delayed due to some unknown issues. The moment Francis Ngannou won the belt against Stipe Miocic, he was paired up with Jon Jones. Jones vacated his light-heavyweight belt and decided to move up to the heavyweight division to become the champion. UFC tried their best to materialize this fight but their efforts weren’t enough to get Jones to sign the paper. The amount for which Jon wanted to fight was way higher than what UFC had agreed to pay, so the fight never made it through.

“We tried to work with Jon, and we eventually have to move on because realistically, and in all honesty, Derrick Lewis is the guy who deserves the fight,” White said on “The Bill Simmons Podcast.” “Derrick Lewis is a heavyweight, he beat Francis Ngannou, he’s looked good in his last couple of fights, he’s ranked in the top three, I think, and he deserves the fight. That’s the fight that should happen. We’ll just roll and do what we do. When Jon’s ready, he’ll let us know.”
He continued, “In his deal, he’s talking he wants $30 million guaranteed. The way that this works is, these guys all share in the pay-per-view. … He will share in the profits of the fight. That’s how it works. That’s how you run a business, and you don’t go broke.”

Derrick Lewis has a win over Francis Ngannou

Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou have their history. The duo has fought previously at UFC 226 with Lewis getting up the decision to win. The fight became one of the dullest fights in the history of the promotion. The fight was heavily criticized by the media and the fans for the lack of offense from both competitors. Since that fight, both of them had different paths towards the top. Both of them fought several fighters and now are standing at the top, facing each other again.

After facing a series of setbacks Francis Ngannou went on a tear. Ngannou scored four first-round finishes over top guys that included wins over Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik and all of the wins occurred in less than three minutes combined time. He then went on to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 and defeated him in the second round of their fight. he landed a vicious left hook that sent the former champion to the canvas and Miocic was out cold.

This fight will be Lewis’s second shot at the UFC heavyweight title. He has fought for the title once before when he fought Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight gold at UFC 230. Derrick lost that title fight to Cormier via submission and faced a short downfall in his UFC career. He then secured few more wins to get back at the top of the division. He got into the title contention when he scored a “Knockout of the Year” over heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night 185. The odds for their rematch are very surprising as Derrick Lewis is +275 underdog while Francis Ngannou opens up as -350 Favourite.