Ciryl Gane is strangely calm for a man who is just about to fight Derrick Lewis.

"Check, check," he says with a grin. "One-two, one-two."

Gane, 31, is a former sparring partner of UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, but believes a victory against Lewis on Saturday will mark the start of a new chapter in UFC history. 

The unbeaten Frenchman can win his first world title in just his tenth professional bout by silencing the American MMA fighter's home crowd at the indoor arena of the Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets NBA team. 

“This is not a problem for me. I’m comfortable with this situation,” Gane told GIVEMESPORT.

“I can understand. It’s a sport, and they are his fans, but if tomorrow it’s in Paris then you know.

"The fans are going to make the fight a little more fun.

"Everybody knows already I'm really calm and really focused for every fight.

"I have a fight IQ, I like to manage the situation every time, and no, I'm comfortable with the fans, that's normal, it's a sport."

Gane (9-0), of France, first crossed paths with Ngannou, who he used to train with, as a student of Fernand Lopez at MMA Factory in Paris, the biggest MMA gym in the French capital.  

And Gane agrees that Saturday will be a big night for both him and his coach.  

"The first emotion is, yes, I'm really proud, we did it," the 31-year-old said. "This is really crazy, really awesome.

"Yes, yes, of course I'm proud, but he can be proud too.

"I live 100% every moment I have, and yes I look a little bit comfortable with that, but it does mean something, yes." 

Victory over Lewis would earn Gane the UFC interim title and put him in the mix for possible big future match-ups against the likes of Ngannou (16-3), former champ Stipe Miocic (20-4) and UFC GOAT Jon Jones (26-1, 1 NC).

And former Muay Thai fighter Gane is confident he can avoid the American's biggest punches. 

“Everybody knows his big strength is his power, and he has a bomb in his hand,” he added. “So, yeah, we worked on it.

"We had some specific sparring partners and, yes, the goal was, because the two fights were really close, was just to maintain my conditioning, that's it.

"I saw some highlights of this guy, I saw some fights, I saw his fight against Volkov, it was a very interesting fight, and yes, I'm smart, with just a few fights I can understand what style he has."

UFC 265 takes place Saturday night. The early prelims will be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass, while the preliminary card and main card will be broadcast live on BT Sport.