UFC 226 was hit hard with a major fight cancellation when featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced off his scheduled title defense against Brian Ortega. Replacing their slot as the co-headliner bout was the heavyweight matchup between top contenders Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou.
What was the high point of the fight?
It took almost a minute and a half before the action finally commenced, when Lewis landed a body kick. It was clear that Lewis was extremely cautious of running into Ngannou’s power hands, as he opted to fight in kicking range land a few shots of his own.
The rest of the fight was pretty much a staring contest between the two, save for some of Lewis’ switch kicks. This pace remained through the next two rounds, until time eventually ran out.
Where do these two go from here?
After this performance, fans speculate if Ngannou may have been greatly affected by his previous loss to Stipe Miocic in January. He likely put himself out of the conversation of the next title challengers, and he would need a convincing win against a top-five contender to get back in there.
It may have been an ugly one, but Lewis still holds a victory over Francis Ngannou. He might need to make another strong statement before he can be considered as a title challenger, but I personally would like to see how he would fare against the winner of the upcoming fight between Junior dos Santos and Blagoy Ivanov.
Watch it now, later, or never?
Never.