Derrick Lewis has slammed Ciryl Gane for his 'boring' performances ahead of their interim title clash at UFC 265 on Saturday night, but rather begrudgingly admits that he's still 'a good fighter'. 

The Black Beast wasn't too impressed by Gane's Muay Thai masterclass against Alexander Volkov at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. 

Gane (9-0), 31, of La Roche-sur-Yon, France, is unbeaten in his nine professional bouts and widely regarded as the European MMA scene's standard bearer.

However, Lewis did concede that Gane is rather good at what he does; he just doesn't like the way that he fights.

“It’s not really [that I don’t] have cardio for five rounds, [it won’t] be exciting for five rounds because he is a boring fighter,” Lewis told MMA Junkie. “He likes to sit back and do a lot of leg kicks and stuff like that, but I really want to have an exciting fight here in my hometown.

"Win, lose or draw, I want it to be an exciting fight. He’s technical, and that’s good for him.

"I guess he’s a good fighter, you know. I don’t really keep track of him. I don’t keep up with his career, but that’s good for him.”

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Either way, Lewis doesn't really care, and he intends to use the home supporters to his advantage. 

UFC 265 will take place on 7 August at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, home of the Houston Rockets

And Lewis, a keen Houston Texans fan, believes the hostile atmosphere will bring the best out of him.  

“With the way I fight, I believe so because I fight straight out of emotion whenever I’m in there,” he added. “So I believe it will help me out a lot.”

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