UFC 226 results: Derrick Lewis beats Francis Ngannou in extremely awful ‘fight’

In the UFC 226 co-main event, few expected heavyweight knockout artists Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis to go past round 1. Well, it went the distance. And Joe Rogan called it the worst heavyweight fight of all-time. The two unofficially combined for 33 significant strikes landed, as Lewis took a dreadful decision over a pathetically tepid Ngannou, who has now lost two straight and his stock has cratered. Lewis has won two in a row, and this was such a bad fight that they didn’t bother with a post-fight interview.

Ngannou started out in southpaw stance. Lewis threw a high kick that was way off target. For some reason, fans at the T-Mobile Arena booed a minute into the fight. Lewis scored first with a body kick, and avoided Ngannou’s left hand. A switch kick from Lewis was blocked by the French-Cameroonian. Ngannou scarcely threw punches, and Lewis tried keeping him at bay with kicks. The cautiousness drew more boos from the crowd, as Lewis essentially won round 1 by default.

Before round 2, Lewis complained to his corner of back problems, something he’s dealt with frequently in recent times. Fans voiced their displeasure as Ngannou continued to do very little. He stuffed a Lewis takedown and missed with a left hand. The crowd chanted “Fight! Fight! Fight!” in hopes of an actual fight. Almost nine minutes into the fight, Ngannou was credited with only 17 strikes attempted. Herb Dean had seen enough and told both of them to engage, in a rare double warning for timidity. Ngannou jabbed Lewis after taking a body kick, but did little else.

Round 3 should’ve produced urgency from Ngannou, and yet... it didn’t really happen. Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz just repeatedly bagged on the lack of offense from both men. Ngannou landed a left hand but got kneed a couple of times by Lewis shortly thereafter. To cap things off, Ngannou threw a strike well after the horn to end a miserable fight.

Official result: Derrick Lewis def. Francis Ngannou by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)