What does the UFC 265 fight card look like?

There's a long way to go before UFC 265 rolls through. But the fight card scheduled for August 7th, 2021, grabbed headlines following the major announcement of an interim heavyweight title fight between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane.

Initially, the UFC had planned a Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis championship clash as the main event of the UFC 265 fight card. However, the reigning heavyweight king took time off to visit family and friends in his home country of Cameroon.

With Ngannou unable to defend his title at UFC 265, the promotion's decision-makers have elected to allow Lewis and Gane to claim gold. ESPN's Brett Okamoto broke the news, reporting that UFC President Dana White has finalized the heavyweight interim title fight.

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Matchups announced for the UFC 265 fight card

With the addition of Derrick Lewis vs. Ciryl Gane, UFC 265 is expected to see two championship bouts. Two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes is expected to make her second appearance of 2021 in a bantamweight title fight against Julianna Peña.

Listed below are all the fights announced for UFC 265 so far:

UFC interim heavyweight title bout: Derrick Lewis vs. Cyril Gane

UFC women's bantamweight title bout: Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Peña

Bantamweight bout: Johnny Muñoz Jr. vs. Jamey Simmons

Bantamweight bout: Jose Aldo vs. Pedro Munhoz

Women's flyweight bout: Melissa Gatto vs. Victoria Leonardo

Bantamweight bout: Casey Kenney vs. Song Yadong

Women's strawweight bout: Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill

Welterweight bout: Vicente Luque vs. Michael Chiesa

Light-heavyweight bout: Alonzo Menifield vs. Ed Herman

Women's strawweight bout: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Jessica Penne

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou isn't happy

Francis Ngannou isn't pleased with the UFC’s decision to book an interim title fight. Understandable, given this announcement came a mere three months after Ngannou's championship-winning knockout win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 260.

Ngannou’s management confirmed in an interview with ESPN that the champion isn't happy with the development and that they were shocked by the announcement. Shortly thereafter, 'The Predator' took to social media to express his frustration. Ngannou sent out the following tweets:

The UFC heavyweight division's title picture has seen some drastic changes from where it stood a few months ago. Following Ngannou's coronation at UFC 260, it was heavily rumored that Jon Jones would move up to heavyweight to be his first challenger. Right now, though, it appears the reigning champ will have to wait a little longer on the sidelines as he awaits the results of UFC 265.

About the author

Writing out of the red corner from the Philippines, Rafael has been entrenched in the world of mixed martial arts for the past five years.

He kickstarted his journalistic career with Rappler.com and had continued covering the world's most violent sport for the newspaper Manila Bulletin. He joined Sportskeeda MMA in 2021 and has garnered over 9 million reads.

The combat journalist is also a television sports reporter for the Manila-based network PTV 4.

In his spare time, Rafael trains in boxing and has sparred with MMA pros Rabin Catalan and John Tirona (he obviously got obliterated).

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Edited by Avinash Tewari