Francis Ngannou vs Derrick Lewis: How many times have the two fought?

Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis was one of the most highly anticipated heavyweight matchups in recent times. Two of the deadliest knockout artists in the sport were set to go at each other for 25 minutes.

However, the fight did not live up to its expectations and lacked the one thing fans know both fighters for, which is knockouts.

The pair have fought each other only once in the co-main event of UFC 226 which took place on July 7 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier headlined the event as a heavyweight title fight. Both Ngannou and Lewis were looking to be next in line for a title shot. Both fighters looked far from their best in what was a bizarre fight to say the least.

'The Black Beast' was nursing a back injury and could not be the aggressor. However, he did throw a number of switch kicks despite nursing an injury. The Cameroonian, on the other hand, was fresh off a loss to Stipe Miocic earlier that year and looked very cautious against the Texas native. Both Lewis and Francis Ngannou were scared of each other's power.

In the end, 'The Black Beast' managed to secure a unanimous decision victory over Francis Ngannou, who suffered his second straight loss in a row.

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Will Francis Ngannou fight Derrick Lewis again?

Following his loss to Derrick Lewis back in 2018, Francis Ngannou returned to his dominant best. 'The Predator' secured wins over the likes of Curtis Blaydes and Cain Velasquez before finally dethroning Stipe Miocic in their rematch. He has since defended his title against Ciryl Gane, and showed fans a completely different side of his game in his first title defense.

However, fans still want Ngannou to avenge his loss to Derrick Lewis, and pit the heavyweight champion against the man with the most knockouts in UFC history. Back in 2021 just after becoming champion, Ngannou was set to fight 'The Black Beast' in a rematch at UFC 265 on August 7. However, the fight was postponed due to scheduling conflicts and it never came to fruition.

Now, with Ngannou as the champion, he will look to fight the winner of a potential fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic once he has recovered from his knee surgery. If he is able to get past the winner of that fight, a potential rematch against Lewis may be on the cards, but it won't happen anytime soon.