Ciryl Gane won a belt that, in truth, doesn’t mean a lot. But he gave a performance in a third round TKO of Derrick Lewis on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston in the main event of UFC 265 that meant a lot.

Gane ran his record to 10-0 with a near-flawless performance, stopping the mammoth hometown hero at 4:11 of the third to become the UFC interim heavyweight champion. His next bout should be a unification against champion Francis Ngannou.

Ngannou won the title — the real title, the only title that matters — when he knocked out Stipe Miocic in the second round on March 27. But when Ngannou said he wouldn’t be ready to fight Lewis in August, the UFC created an interim belt.

It was a puzzling decision that hasn’t been fully explained given it’s not even five full months since Ngannou won the belt.

Focusing on that, though, just obscures the fact that Gane was brilliant and figures to pose a massive problem for the power-hitting Ngannou.

Lewis had nothing to offer Saturday. He just took a series of leg kicks until he couldn’t take it any more and he was backed against the cage, doubled over. When he did, Gane was on him in an instant and finished him brutally. Lewis was on his hands and knees, desperately covering his head, and Gane rained punches from the top.

Lewis has the most knockouts in heavyweight history and it was his power that many thought would lead him to the victory. Ngannou might even be a harder hitter, but he’s more athletic than Lewis.

Still, he’s nowhere near as athletic as Gane, who painted a masterpiece in the 14 minutes, 11 seconds the fight lasted.

“Everybody knew what my game plan would be,” said Gane, who became the first UFC title-holder from France. “I like to move.”

He’s a 6-foot-4, 246-pounder who has the agility and quickness of a welterweight. That was a difficult proposition for a guy like Lewis, who relies on having the opponent in front of him to land his big shots.

Gane was vastly quicker and was able to get in, lands his strikes and then dart out before Lewis could react. Lewis had landed just 16 significant strikes according to UFCstats.com, while Gane landed 98 of 122.

It was a remarkable performance against as talented a heavyweight as there is on the roster.

Gane’s wife is going to have a baby later this month and he said before the fight, he wants to take some time off. But a fight with Ngannou, whom he briefly trained with at the MMA Factory, will be highly lucrative.

And it will also be extremely difficult for Ngannou if Gane fights the way he did on Saturday.

Gane gave the belt in the cage to his coach, Fernand Lopez, who was also Ngannou’s coach before they split in 2018.

Gane, now 10-0, is as complete a fighter as the heavyweight division has ever seen. He’s beaten one beast already — Lewis, whose nickname is "The Black Beast" — and he’ll face another one when the UFC puts him in the cage with Ngannou.

But Gane is proving that he, too, is very much a beast and a problem for everyone in the division.

UFC 265 live blog

UFC 265 main card results

Interim heavyweight championship: No. 3 Ciryl Gane def. No. 2 Derrick Lewis via TKO (punches) at 4:11 of R3

Bantamweight: No. 5 Jose Aldo def. No. 9 Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

Welterweight: No. 6 Vicente Luque def. No. 5 Michael Chiesa via submission (D'arce) at 3:25 of R1

Strawweight: No. 10 Tecia Torres def. No. 12 Angela Hill via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)

Bantamweight: Song Yadong def. Casey Kenney via split decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)

UFC 265 prelims results

Lightweight: Rafael Fiziev def. Bobby Green via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x 3)

Bantamweight: Vince Morales def. Drako Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x 2)

Light heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield def. Ed Herman via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

Strawweight: Jessica Penne def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via submission (arm bar) at 4:32 of R1

UFC 265 early prelims results

Flyweight: Manel Kape def. Ode Osbourne via KO (flying knee) at 4:44 of R1:

Bantamweight: Miles Johns def. Anderson Dos Santos via KO (punch) at 1:16 of R3:

Flyweight: Melissa Gatto def. Victoria Leonardo via TKO (doctor's stoppage) at 5:00 of R2

Bantamweight: Johnny Muñoz Jr. def. Jamey Simmons via submission (rear naked) at 2:35 of R2:

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