France's Cyril Gane is the interim heavyweight champion after earning a third-round TKO win over Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 in Houston.
Gane dominated the opening two rounds as Lewis couldn't land any of his power punches.
An uppercut towards the end of the third round caused the damage, and Gane stopped it with ground and pound moments later.
The result sets up a mouth-watering heavyweight unification showdown with Francis Ngannou, who knocked out Stipe Miocic in March to become the champion.
Gane stayed at range with a series of early stabbing kicks, while Lewis looked to load up from the opening siren.
It was a cagey opening three minutes, with each man concerned about the power of the other.
The most decisive shot Lewis landed was a low blow that caught Gane on the cup with 1:38 remaining in the opening round.
Lewis felt he'd been poked in the eye in the closing seconds of the frame, but referee Dan Miragliotta waved the fight on.
Gane's jab was his most effective weapon, and his footwork kept him out of trouble. The Frenchman targetted Lewis' front knee with leg kicks, defended a second-round takedown well and scored some heavy knees in a clinch against the cage.
Something was off with Lewis, who was fighting in front of his hometown crowd.
The Texan couldn't get anything off and was perhaps feeling the effects of Gane's early work to his left leg.
Lewis was biting on plenty of Gane's feints too, with the number three-ranked Frenchman dominating the first three rounds.
An uppercut rattled Lewis with two minutes left in the third round, and Gane let his hands loose in looking for the finish. Lewis' mouthpiece came out, giving him a reprieve and he fought back momentarily before falling to the canvas.
Gane pounced, forcing Miragliotta to stop it after some brutal ground and pound.
UFC 265 RESULTS
Heavyweight Cyril Gane def. Derrick Lewis via Rd3 TKO (ground and pound)
Bantamweight José Aldo def. Pedro Munhoz via UD
Welterweight Vicente Luque def. Michael Chiesa via Rd1 Submission (D’Arce choke)
Women's Strawweight Tecia Torres def. Angela Hill via UD
Bantamweight Song Yadong def. Casey Kenney via SD
Preliminary card
Lightweight Rafael Fiziev def. Bobby Green via UD
Bantamweight Vince Morales def. Drako Rodriguez via UD
Light Heavyweight Alonzo Menifield def. Ed Herman via UD
Women's Strawweight Jessica Penne def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via Rd1 Submission (armbar)
Early preliminary card
Catchweight (129 lb) Manel Kape def. Ode' Osbourne via Rd1 KO (flying knee and punches)
Bantamweight Miles Johns def. Anderson dos Santos via Rd3 KO (punch)
Women's Flyweight Melissa Gatto def. Victoria Leonardo via Rd2 TKO (doctor stoppage)
Bantamweight Johnny Muñoz Jr. def. Jamey Simmons via Rd2 Submission (rear-naked choke)
