UFC 265 featured an interim heavyweight title fight between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane. Derrick risked his shot at the undisputed heavyweight title and agreed to fight an extremely dangerous opponent in Ciryl Gane. Consequently, he got knocked out to Gane who is now the new interim heavyweight champion. But, what exactly went wrong for the Black Beast at UFC 265?
Ciryl Gane was Impressive with his footwork:
From the starting of the fight, Ciryl started to take points by landing strikes on Derrick’s body. Gane was very light on his feet. That played against Lewis as for him it was ultimately getting that one shot to knock Gane out. Every time Lewis was trying to push Ciryl escaped smartly from his range. Gane then started landing leg kicks and Lewis chose to absorb them rather than checking. That’s when it felt that Lewis is falling behind a bit. Also, he was yet to land a single strike on Gane.
Derrick Lewis failed to execute his plans:
Deducing from what Coach Bob Perez was telling derrick it is certain that Lewis’s game was to push forward and go for the head. After the end of the second round, he advises Derrick: “We gotta keep cutting off, we gotta keep pushing forward. When we are fighting a kicker like this he is going to fight in range and score. Start going for the head… big penetrating step coming inside Derrick”
But, Derrick failed to execute the plan as Ciryl was showing off his athleticism. He was double the speed of Derrick and it was not like Ciryl was just touching him, the shots he landed certainly had power. Which kept Lewis away from pushing forward as he had planned. Lewis’s power is his ultimate weapon. But, with the range, Gane was fighting the power was not as threatening.
Derrick failed to control the fight:
Another concerning point for Derrick was Gane seemed to have the better strength advantage when it came to clinching. Gane showed a better understanding of positions and made sure to keep striking Lewis with knees and shoulder. Everything both fighters were going through inside the octagon was on Gane’s terms. Lewis was unable to find a way to change that. It is safe to say that Ciryl was better at executing his plans. Derrick on the other hand didn’t capitalize the little moments he got while pushing towards Gane.
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