UFC 226 is usually remembered for all the right reasons, but it included one of the most boring fights of all time between Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis.
In the UFC 226 Main Event, Daniel Cormier Stipe Miocic has a superfight in a heavyweight to become a UFC -double champion and join Conor McGregor and Amanda Nunes.
One of the most important talk points of the event was then Cormier bumped with Brock Lesnar after the fight, when the promotion tried to set up Lesnar's comeback to the UFC.
The Co-Main event, however, included what a beautiful heavyweight collision was between previous title candidate, Francis Ngannou and knockout artist, Derrick Lewis.
Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty images
Dana White called Ngannou vs Lewis 'An Gruwing' after shock fight
After the two heavyweight contenders clashed on the ceremonial weightings only one day before fighting evening, fans thought they had a spectacle.
Not only that, but 'The Predator' had already made a name for itself if one of the most frightening punchers in the sport after he almost took the head of Alistair Overeem with a one-punch knockout, and Lewis was well on the way to becoming the record holder for the most knock-out profits in UFC history.
Ngannou came in behind the back of his failed title challenge against Miocic and hoped to remind the fans of his threat.
Nevertheless, he and Lewis fight in one of the worst battles in the history of promotion, with Ngannou landing only 11 attacker and 'The Black Beast' landed only 20.
Lewis was given the victory as fans present in the T-Mobile Arena, pronounced the two heavyweights from the Octagon.
That reaction was shared by UFC Baas, Dana White, who labeled the fight as 'a horror', despite the fact that Ngannou claimed that he wore 'fear' from his fight against Miocic in his fight against Lewis.
“Forget the horror of the heavyweight battle that happened,” White started with the press conference of the UFC 226 after the fight.
“It was terrible, I think (Ngannou) here had a pretty big turnout and clearly the fight against Alistair Overeem overeem catapulted him … I think his ego was running away with him, great time, I can tell you that his ego was absolutely running away with him … The ego of this guy was so out of hand … ego ngannou hurt further,”
Dana White considered cutting Francis Ngannou after UFC 226
From that moment on, the relationship between White and Ngannou fell into pieces, which then led to Ngannou's exit from the UFC in 2023.
Since then, White and Ngannou have collided in the media several times, with the UFC boss even claiming that Ngannou owes me money. “
Years after UFC 226 and after 'the exit of the Predator', White revealed that he had cut Ngannou after his matte performance against Lewis.
“I started cutting Francis when he lost two (fights) in a row, I would cut him. Someone here begged me not to do it,” White admitted a few years later at a Power Slap -press conference.
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