Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane faceoff at the UFC 265 pre-fight press conference.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White had to be talked into letting Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane get as close as they did for their staredown at the UFC 265 pre-fight press conference (watch the presser here).
Lewis (25-7) and Gane (9-0) went toe-to-toe at Thursday’s faceoff ahead of UFC 265, taking place inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, on Sat., Aug. 7, 2021, via ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV). “The Black Beast” wanted to get nice and close to his opponent; however, White was hesitant to let it happen after various physical altercations at faceoffs. The UFC boss caved and everything went off without a hitch.
The winner of Lewis (no. 2) vs. Gane (no. 3) will be the rightful challenger to UFC Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou’s crown. Other notable bouts on the card include ranked bantamweights Jose Aldo vs. Pedro Munhoz in the co-headliner, plus Michael Chiesa vs. Vicente Luque, Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill and Song Yadong vs. Casey Kenney.
For the rest of the UFC 265 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 264 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early Fight Pass/ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.