UFC 226 live blog: Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis

This is the UFC 226 live blog for Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis, a heavyweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Ngannou, who has knocked out or submitted six of his seven UFC opponents, fights Lewis, who has won seven of his last eight bouts, in the co-main event.

Check out the UFC 226 live blog below.

Round 1: Herb Dean in the Octagon to oversee this fight. Neither man throws a strike in the first 30 seconds. Lewis breaks the stalemate with a looping roundhouse that catches nothing but air. Body kick lands for Lewis and Ngannou fails to land a pair of off-balance counter punches. Jumping switch kick by Lewis is blocked. Ngannou has hardly thrown anything through the first three minutes. Body kick connects for Lewis, he goes in to clinch but Ngannou is able to shrug him off. Lewis circling, Ngannou occasionally pawing at him with a jab. Another Lewis switch kick is blocked.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Lewis.

Round 2: A minute in and neither man has landed anything of significance, just single strikes (most falling short of the mark) with no follow-up. Crowd is getting restless and they’ve begun waving around their cell phones. Takedown attempt by Lewis is stuffed. 1-2 by Lewis whiffs. Almost nothing to score here in the second round with two minutes to go. Leg kick for Lewis connects. Dean calls for a pause in the action and warns both men for timidity. Jab by Ngannou finally lands. Kick to the body by Lewis, then another nice jab by Ngannou. The last 30 seconds sees almost zero action from both fighters.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-10. Overall 20-19, Lewis.

Round 3: Ngannou throwing strikes from distance that are just not connecting. Lewis at least occasionally clipping Ngannou with kicks to the leg and body. Two minutes in and Lewis has done almost nothing, Ngannou even less. He eventually throws a haymaker left that doesn’t come close to connecting. Lewis ducks a high kick. Fans are doing the wave now. Glancing left hand by Ngannou. Lewis clinches up, knees to the body. Kick to the body by Lewis. Late punch by Ngannou after the buzzer.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-10. Overall 30-29, Lewis.

Official result: Derrick Lewis def. Francis Ngannou via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)