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The UFC will return on the first weekend of August with a stacked pay-per-view card set to take place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
UFC 265, set to go down on Saturday, August 7, 2021, will feature an interim heavyweight title fight between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane in the main event.
The pay-per-view card was slated to feature another title fight; Amanda Nunes was expected to defend her women's bantamweight championship against Julianna Pena.
However, 'The Lioness' had to pull out due to a positive COVID-19 result. Her opponent Julianna Pena showed up in Houston to make a statement and question why Amanda Nunes was not there, despite her partner Nina Ansaroff Nunes posting that the family had tested negative.
The champion gave Julianna Pena her reply on Twitter.
A bantamweight contest between former champion Jose Aldo and Pedro Munhoz will now serve as the co-main event for UFC 265.
The other three fights on the five-bout main event are a welterweight battle between Michael Chiesa and Vicente Luque, a women's strawweight contest between Tecia Torres and Angela Hill, and a bantamweight fight between Song Yadong and Casey Kenney.
UFC 265 - Derrick Lewis vs. Ciryl Gane
No.2-ranked Derrick Lewis, who is on a four-fight winning streak, will face no.3-ranked Ciryl Gane, who is undefeated in his MMA career with nine wins in a row, in the main event of UFC 265 with the interim heavyweight title on the line.
Fans and MMA experts alike were left surprised by the UFC's decision to book an interim heavyweight title fight set to go down just three months after Francis Ngannou was crowned champion. Brett Okamoto, who was the first to report the news, added in his tweet that the interim title was made because Francis Ngannou could not be available for a June or August fight. However, the champ was ready to get inside the octagon in September.
Francis Ngannou did not shy away from expressing his disdain regarding the decision, both on social media and in interviews.
Find about: All the Upcoming UFC Events
However, UFC president Dana White feels that the interim title is "awesome" and somewhat resembles the belt unifying matches from the old days of boxing, he said in a recent interview with MMA Junkie.
He also clarified that his relationship with Francis Ngannou is fine, and that the UFC will try to make the champion happy.
