UFC on ESPN 28 - Hall vs. Strickland --- UFC on ESPN 29 - Cannonier vs. Gastelum
UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on August 7, 2021 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States.
Fight card
Main Card
Heavyweight Derrick Lewis vs. Ciryl Gane Heavyweight Championship
Bantamweight José Aldo vs. Pedro Munhoz
Welterweight Michael Chiesa vs. Vicente Luque
Women's Strawweight Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill
Bantamweight Song Yadong vs. Casey Kenney
Preliminary card (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
Lightweight Bobby Green vs. Rafael Fiziev
Bantamweight Vince Morales vs. Drako Rodriguez
Light Heavyweight Ed Herman vs. Alonzo Menifield
Women's Strawweight Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Jessica Penne
Early Preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Flyweight Manel Kape vs. Ode’ Osbourne
Bantamweight Miles Johns vs. Anderson dos Santos
Women's Flyweight Victoria Leonardo vs. Melissa Gatto
Bantamweight Johnny Muñoz Jr. vs. Jamey Simmons
Background
An interim UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between former title challenger Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane has been slated to headline the event. The original plan was to feature current champion Francis Ngannou defending his title against Lewis, but the promotion opted to move forward with the interim contest due to the alleged refusal of the champion to defend it in August (despite winning the championship just three months earlier and claiming he was available for his first defense in September).
A UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between the current champion Amanda Nunes (also the current UFC Women's Featherweight Champion) and The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate bantamweight winner Julianna Peña was expected to take place at the event. However on July 29, the bout was pulled due to Nunes testing positive for COVID-19. They are now expected to be rescheduled for a future event.
Johnny Muñoz and Jamey Simmons were expected to meet in a bantamweight bout at UFC 261, but the latter pulled out due to undisclosed reasons. They were later rescheduled for this event.
A middleweight bout between Uriah Hall and Sean Strickland was expected to take place at this event. However, the pairing was moved to the week prior and was scheduled to headline UFC on ESPN: Hall vs. Strickland.
A women's strawweight rematch between Tecia Torres and former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Angela Hill is expected to take place at this event. The pairing met previously at UFC 188 in June 2015, when Torres won by unanimous decision. The rematch was originally scheduled to take place in December 2020 at UFC 256, but Hill tested positive for COVID-19 during the week leading up to the event and was removed from the bout.
A bantamweight bout Miles Johns and Anderson dos Santos is expected to take place at this event. The pair was scheduled to meet at UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs. Moisés, but it was removed just hours before the show due to COVID-19 protocol issues stemming from Dos Santos' camp.
