UFC 265's interim heavyweight title fight was so disrespectful to Francis Ngannou

Last night Ciryl Gane beat Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC 265 in Lewis’ home town of Houston. Gane (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) put on a dominant performance and got the victory with a third-round TKO.

The headline above speaks nothing of the courage these two men showed by entering the octagon to fight each other. Any and all fighters deserve praise and respect for doing what they do for a living – putting their health and well being on the line for our entertainment, as well as their personal gain. But yeah, for our entertainment.

What that headline refers too, though, is that Gane was named the “interim heavyweight champ” and given a belt by Dana White, which is a joke and totally disrespectful for the real heavyweight champ, Francis Ngannou.

That wasn’t a championship fight last night. That was a top-contender fight. Gane won and deserves a title shot and that fight with Ngannou, who praised Gane for his win, should be an awesome one, but interim belts are just ridiculous.

White and the UFC have mostly used these “interim title fights” to help bulk up a pay-per-view event or to disrespect a current champ. Here, with this fight, they did both of those things.

Ngannou fought just four months ago, winning the belt with a second-round KO of Stipe Miocic. It was their second fight and seemed to be a good way to lead to a trilogy fight, since Miocic won the first one.

There was also talk of Ngannou fighting Jon Jones, who is working on making his way up to heavyweight. That would be a HUGE money fight that could set PPV records, but that likely isn’t going to happen for a while, if ever.

Ngannou and his management weren’t pleased with with the UFC so the UFC pushed ahead and made the Gane-Lewis “interim title fight” at UFC 265. It was a total slap in the face of a great champion and was used to push tickets and PPV buys. Nothing in the history of the sport has been more obvious than that.

Oh, and listen to how the PPV started:

Ah yes, the old “our champ doesn’t want to fight” style of promotion. Best practices! https://t.co/v8BZpXqS70

— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) August 7, 2021

Again, Ngannou fought four months ago! He wants to fight and shouldn’t have to deal with this disrespect. He’s the champ. Plain and simple. Also, he spent time after his last win on a trip to his native Cameroon where his foundation works with helping young kids train and gives the children of Cameroon “the tools to lead lives of dedication and confidence.”

He’s out there doing important things and should be applauded for that.

Ngannou’s next fight will likely be against Gane. But let’s stop with any talk like this:

CHAMP