5 of the most questionable interim title fights in UFC history

#2. Justin Gaethje vs. Tony Ferguson – UFC 249

The UFC was impatient in booking an interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje

Tony Ferguson’s brush with the interim UFC lightweight title in 2017 wasn’t the only time that ‘El Cucuy’ was involved in a largely questionable interim title clash. The same thing happened in 2020, but didn’t end quite so well for him.

In this instance, the issue was purely with the UFC and their impatience. Ferguson was booked to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 249. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the show was postponed. When the promotion was able to rebook it a month later than planned, Nurmagomedov was unable to fly from Russia to the US, putting the fight on ice.

The most sensible thing to do would’ve been to wait until the fight could be re-booked later down the line, particularly as UFC 249 was already a loaded card with another title fight on tap.

However, desperate to headline with a lightweight title clash, the UFC booked Ferguson into an interim title bout with Justin Gaethje. And, of course, ‘The Highlight’ then smashed ‘El Cucuy’, breaking his 12-fight winning streak and ruining any idea of a fight between Ferguson and Khabib.

Not only did this rob the fans of the one fight they’d been dying to see for years, but it wasn’t even like Khabib was out for a long time. He ended up fighting Gaethje just five months later. He then retired after beating him, making a fight between the Dagestani and Ferguson one of the UFC’s ultimate lost dream matches.

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#1. Ciryl Gane vs. Derrick Lewis – UFC 265

Ciryl Gane's interim UFC heavyweight title bout with Derrick Lewis was another example of the UFC's impatience

While it turned out to be an excellent fight and may well lead to an even better fight down the line, the recent interim UFC heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Derrick Lewis made practically no sense at all. Essentially, the promotion only booked it because they were desperate for hometown fighter Lewis to headline UFC 265 in Houston, Texas.

The original plan was for him to challenge Francis Ngannou for the UFC heavyweight title. However, reportedly, ‘The Predator’ wasn’t ready to fight just four months after defeating Stipe Miocic for the gold.

However, Ngannou never intended to sit out for an undetermined amount of time. He outright stated that he was more than willing to defend against Lewis in September, making the UFC seem both petty and impatient.

In particular, it felt baffling that Ngannou was never given a shot at an interim title when Miocic was on the shelf for the best part of a year between 2019 and 2020. Yet the UFC were willing to introduce one within a matter of months of him winning the title in his own right.

In the end, the big loser turned out to be Lewis. ‘The Black Beast’ fell to a third round TKO at the hands of Gane. While a clash between ‘Bon Gamin’ and Ngannou sounds like the best heavyweight title fight in a long time, the fact remains that introducing an interim title was still a hugely questionable decision from the UFC.