Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis 2 targeted for August in Houston

Francis Ngannou will be in enemy territory when he defends his heavyweight title for the first time.

After Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 the plan was for him to face Jon Jones. However, “Bones” and the UFC couldn’t come to an agreement. Following that, Dana White revealed Derrick Lewis would be getting the next shot. Now, White has revealed to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports the rematch will likely take place in August and in Houston, Texas where Lewis is from.

FWIW, White said Derrick Lewis will fight Francis Ngannou next, and it will be in Houston, LIKELY in August. I'll have full details on my story on @YahooSports

— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) May 26, 2021

“FWIW, White said Derrick Lewis will fight Francis Ngannou next, and it will be in Houston, LIKELY in August.”

If the fight does end up in Houston, it would be in front of a full-capacity crowd like UFC 262 was. There is no question the crowd would also be behind Lewis, even though Ngannou is a fan-favorite due to the fact he lives and trains in Houston and got a massive round of applause when he was at UFC 262.

Lewis is also confident ahead of the fight as he had said he will KO Ngannou in the first exchange to win the belt. However, Ngannou is looking to exact his revenge and defend his belt for the first time.

Francis Ngannou, as mentioned, is coming off the KO win over Miocic to win the belt. Prior to that, he earned KO wins over Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and Curtis Blaydes.

Derrick Lewis, meanwhile, is coming off an upset KO over Blaydes back in February. The victory extended his winning streak to four as he also earned wins over Alexey Oleynik, Ilir Latifi, and Blagoy Ivanov. He also beat Francis Ngannou in the co-main event of UFC 226 in a very lackluster fight where both men barely threw any punches.

Who do you think will win, Francis Ngannou or Derrick Lewis?