The best and worst from UFC 265: Derrick Lewis vs Ciryl Gane

#2 Worst - Derrick Lewis crumbles in front of his home crowd

UFC 265: Lewis v Gane

It's tough to be harsh on Derrick Lewis, who fought in front of a racuous home crowd in Houston in one of the biggest fights of his UFC career. But his second attempt at clinching UFC gold ended in even more embarrassing circumstances than his first.

Lewis never really looked confident, even during the walkouts. With the crowd egging him on, 'The Black Beast' turned in arguably the worst performance of his UFC career. He simply had no answer to Ciryl Gane's technical prowess and understanding of range, as he failed to close the distance and set up his famous right hand.

Lewis landed only eight strikes over the course of the fight, absorbing over a hundred and seeing his lead leg chopped up by powerful kicks from Gane. In the third round, as the leg gave out and he ran out of answers, he was done. The fight could've been stopped much earlier than it was as Lewis ate knees, elbows and punches before being put out of his misery.

Without being too critical of Lewis, who is a UFC legend and a fan favorite, we can simply say that he didn't turn up at UFC 265. Will he ever compete for a title again?

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#1 Best - 'Bon Gamin' slays 'The Black Beast' to set up gargantuan UFC heavyweight showdown

UFC 265: Lewis v Gane

With a masterful performance that assuaged all doubts regarding his fighting style, Ciryl Gane set up a gargantuan heavyweight title showdown against Francis Ngannou - both literally and figuratively.

Impressive performance from Gane !He's now a legit contender.See you soon boy. When you know you know. #ufc265

— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) August 8, 2021

Gane was near-flawless in front of a hostile crowd in Houston. He walked out to Still Tippin', absorbed no damage and secured an explosive finish to quieten those who had labeled him 'boring'. He overcame a low blow and an eye poke to make Lewis look amateur.

The Frenchman clinched UFC gold just two years after making his debut in the promotion and just 10 fights into his professional career, winning several new fans with his display of class in the octagon interview.

Meet your FIRST France-born UFC champion 🏆🇫🇷 @Ciryl_Gane[ #AndNew | #UFC265 ] pic.twitter.com/Yvr2z22YIq

— UFC (@ufc) August 8, 2021

For a man who's 6'5" and almost 250 pounds, Gane moves with unparalleled grace and bounce. Irrespective of whether 'Bon Gamin' gets the job done against Ngannou, he is the future of the UFC heavyweight division.