Ngannou falls to Lewis in snoozefest

LAS VEGAS » Results from the main and under card at UFC 226 July 7 at T-Mobile Arena:

Main card

CO-MAIN EVENT » Heavyweights: Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis — Many predicted Ngannou, who goes by “The Predator,” and Lewis, nicknamed “The Black Beast,” would go at it like heavyweights are supposed to — by going for the knockout.

That didn’t happen, not by a longshot. Lewis and Ngannou barely went after each other, and by the middle of Round 1, the T-Mobile Arena crowd booed big time. Lewis won the bout by unanimous decision, which only put the spotlight on Ngannou’s inactivity during the fight.

By Round 3, with the snoozefest continuing, the fans entertained themselves by doing the wave.

The loss by Ngannou (113) will likely hurt Ngannou’s hopes to fight any time soon for the heavyweight belt. Ngannous lost by unanimous decision to Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in Boston in January. Lewis improved to 20-5. 170 POUNDS » Mike Perry def. Paul Felder — Perry used a huge left hand in the second round that opened a gash over Felder’s right eye and caused blood to flow all over Felder’s face and chest. Perry then stayed in control en route to a split decision win. 155 » Anthony Pettis def. Michael Chiesa — Pettis won an entertaining bout with a big right hand in Round 2 that dropped Chiesa. He finished off his opponent with a submission hold via a triangle armbar. 205 » Khalil Rountree def. Gokhan Saki — Rountree scored a huge win with a vicious left hand that floored Saki, and that was it. A flurry of punches with Saki on the canvas ends it in Round 1 at 1 minute, 36 seconds.

Under card

185 » Paulo Costa def. Uriah Hall — Costa stayed undefeated at 12-0 with a vicious Round 2 knockout in one of the most entertaining bouts of the night. Costa used a flurry of rights and lefts, and the big one was a right to Hall’s midsection that dropped him. 135 » Raphael Assuncao def. Rob Font — This was all Assuncao, who won unanimously with 30-27 scores on the three judges’ cards. 155 » Lando Vannata vs. Drakkar Klose — Klose won by a unanimous decision, and secured 30-27 scores from each judge. 170 » Curtis Millender def. Max Griffin — Millender won by a unanimous decision, as he used his height advantage, knees to the head and big rights to the head to get the victory.

Prelims

155 » Dan Hooker def. Gilbert Burns — Hooker won by knockout at 2 minutes, 28 seconds of the first period. Hooker used a devastating left to the body, then left to the head to drop Burns. 115 » Emily Whitmire def. Jamie Moyle — Whitmire won by unanimous decision, and used a third-period takedown and groundand-pound attack to secure the victory.

JOHN LOCHER — ASSOCIATED PRESS Francis Ngannou, right, fights Derrick Lewis during a heavyweight bout at UFC 226 on July 7 in Las Vegas.