GDT: UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane

[Avs_19]

Date: August 7, 2021
Venue: Toyota Center
City: Houston, Texas
Time: 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
Viewing: PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

Heavyweight Interim Championship bout: Derrick Lewis vs. Ciryl Gane
Bantamweight bout: José Aldo vs. Pedro Munhoz
Welterweight bout: Michael Chiesa vs. Vicente Luque
Women's Strawweight bout: Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill
Bantamweight bout: Song Yadong vs. Casey Kenney

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, TSN 5)

Lightweight bout: Bobby Green vs. Rafael Fiziev
Bantamweight bout: Vince Morales vs. Drako Rodriguez Light
Heavyweight bout: Ed Herman vs. Alonzo Menifield
Women's Strawweight bout: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Jessica Penne

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass)

Flyweight bout: Manel Kape vs. Ode’ Osbourne
Bantamweight bout: Miles Johns vs. Anderson dos Santos
Women's Flyweight bout: Victoria Leonardo vs. Melissa Gatto
Bantamweight bout: Johnny Muñoz Jr. vs. Jamey Simmons​

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[m9]

Card has definitely taken some hits, but that prelim card is still pretty fun.

It's a dumb interim title fight, but as just a plain fight I'm pretty interested in how the main event goes. Gane has looked great and should be too slick for Lewis on the feet.. but it's hard to doubt Lewis in big spots.

Hoping Aldo can beat Munhoz. Will be another very close, split-decision type fight.

Chiesa v Luque is very evenly matched. Glad to see Chiesa back - I wonder how close he is to a title shot if he wins this one.

 

[Avs_19]

I really like Gane in the main event. He's quick, accurate, and smart. It remains to be seen if he has that true HW KO power but I think he should be able to pick Lewis apart at range for the entirety of the fight. Never count Lewis out because he can finish a fight at any moment but I'd just be a little surprised if Gane puts himself in a position to get caught like that.

Aldo vs. Munhoz should be fun. Aldo is no longer elite but he has shown he can still compete at the level a step or two below that.

Chiesa vs. Luque is one of those interesting stylistic match ups. I often favour the better grappler in these types of fights but Luque is really good so I think I'm actually going to lean towards him here but I'm not confident in that. It should be a good fight either way because even if it ends up on the ground, I don't think Luque will just stay on bottom and be inactive.

I see Kape down on the early prelims. He came in with a lot of hype but things haven't exactly gone to plan. I still like his style so I hope gets on track in the UFC but he needs to be a bit more aggressive and add some volume. Similar to Angela Hill, who often looks good but ends up on the wrong side of a split decision.

 

[Chaels Arms]

The thing about Gane is he is probably one of the few fighters that has the patience to do well against someone like Lewis. I could actually see that main event being a little boring with Gane just touching Lewis at distance for the majority of the fight. Dan Hardy's fight breakdown on the BT Sports YouTube account is probably one of my favorite ones that he did. It's crazy how polar opposite Lewis and Gane are.

Pumped to see Fiziev in that prelim main event.

 

[MMC]

Hoping for Lewis as this is probably unpopular but I find Gane pretty boring to watch. Hope these 2 put something fun together but I don't see it unfortunately. Though this will definitely lead to a much more hyped HW title fight with Ngannou so I'm grateful for that at least. Like the rest o the card a lot too but the Nunes fight being cancelled definitely sucks

 

[CDJ]

Fiziev is great. Arguably the best striker at 155. That’s my contribution

 

[Chaels Arms]

Lewis looked like he's carrying a lot less weight around the midsection at the press conference today.

 

[16Skippy]

Chiesa v Luque is very evenly matched. Glad to see Chiesa back - I wonder how close he is to a title shot if he wins this one.

Yea he's a good dark horse candidate to get a title shot.

Didn't think I'd ever be saying that after watching trying to defend a choke by flexing his neck lol

 

[Avs_19]

Can I take back what I said about Kape earlier? He might be on his way to getting cut after being talked about as a potential title challenger when he made his debut.

 

[pistolpete11]

It should and probably will be a boring 5 round point fighting win for Gane, but the arena will be bonkers if Lewis can pull it off. I almost never like a "puncher's chance", but I can't shake the feeling Lewis might actually get it done. It's stupid that this is an interim title fight in the first place, but it does set it up nicely for the winner to take on Francis (and hopefully Stipe-Jones).

Aldo-Munhoz should be a pretty fun fight, all action fight. Not sure what it means for either moving forward, but I'm looking forward to watching it.

I'm not quite as high on Chiesa as others seem to be. Like a title shot with a win? Really? I think both guys put themselves firmly in the title eliminator category with a win, but not title shot. I also don't think either has much for Usman, though, so there's that.

Rest of the card is solid. I don't expect this to do well commercially, but it's a pretty solid card for fight fans.

 

[m9]

It should and probably will be a boring 5 round point fighting win for Gane, but the arena will be bonkers if Lewis can pull it off. I almost never like a "puncher's chance", but I can't shake the feeling Lewis might actually get it done. It's stupid that this is an interim title fight in the first place, but it does set it up nicely for the winner to take on Francis (and hopefully Stipe-Jones).

Aldo-Munhoz should be a pretty fun fight, all action fight. Not sure what it means for either moving forward, but I'm looking forward to watching it.

I'm not quite as high on Chiesa as others seem to be. Like a title shot with a win? Really? I think both guys put themselves firmly in the title eliminator category with a win, but not title shot. I also don't think either has much for Usman, though, so there's that.

Rest of the card is solid. I don't expect this to do well commercially, but it's a pretty solid card for fight fans.

I thinks Chiesa is closer to a title shot than some might think just because it's a fresh matchup. If Usman beat Colby & say Burns beat Edwards then Chiesa might get the next call. Not that Edwards/Burns has been booked yet.

 

[pistolpete11]

I thinks Chiesa is closer to a title shot than some might think just because it's a fresh matchup. If Usman beat Colby & say Burns beat Edwards then Chiesa might get the next call. Not that Edwards/Burns has been booked yet.

If they make Burns-Edwards, the winner of that should 100% get a title shot over Chiesa.

 

[16Skippy]

If they make Burns-Edwards, the winner of that should 100% get a title shot over Chiesa.

I agree but if Chiesa beats Luque he should definitely be considered "in the the mix". And from there you never know if someone gets injured or pulls out.

 

[m9]

If they make Burns-Edwards, the winner of that should 100% get a title shot over Chiesa.

Burns doesn't need a rematch against Usman anytime soon.

 

[pistolpete11]

Burns doesn't need a rematch against Usman anytime soon.

Burns had Usman hurt and in this scenario would have wins against Wonderboy and Edwards.

 

[m9]

Burns had Usman hurt and in this scenario would have wins against Wonderboy and Edwards.

I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, I'm just saying that it's not marketable and he won't be next.

 

[pistolpete11]

I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, I'm just saying that it's not marketable and he won't be next.

Being ranked #2 with 2 top 5 wins since having the champ hurt in a title fight is far more marketable than anything someone can up with for Chiesa.

Chiesa wouldn't have any wins over someone in the top 5. Isn't particularly exciting. Doesn't have an intriguing style for the champ. Isn't a big name. Being a fresh matchup counts for something, but when that's basically all you got, it's a weak ass case for a title fight. And frankly, I think the fact nobody is talking Luque for a title shot with a win is pretty damning for Chiesa's case.

If they wanted to wait a little and do Chiesa/Luque vs. Edwards to ensure they have a next up for Usman (assuming he beats Colby), that might make sense. But if they make Burns-Edwards, I don't really see an argument for anyone else getting next besides the winner of that.

 

[MMC]

Keep in mind Usman has already expressed a desire to fight Chiesa. I imagine a win over Luque would only increase his interest

 

[chicagoskycam]

Dos Santos is an animal

 

[CDJ]

Big knee by Kape, early stoppage imo

 

[CDJ]

I didn’t even realize he missed weight by that much, that’s annoying

 

[I am not exposed]

Big knee by Kape, early stoppage imo

My thoughts as well.

 

[Deen]

Kape is a problem when he puts it together. Took some big shots though.

 

[Avs_19]

Perfectly timed knee by Kape. Stoppage was weird but it did look like he was out at first. I think what made it worse was that ref was a little slow, paused, and then stopped it once Osbourne was trying to grab a hold of him.

 

[TerminatorBlue]

That's like 5 losses in a row for Karolina Kowalkiewicz, I think she will probably et cut soon.