Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis booked for UFC 226

It’s finally going down.

A long-awaited heavyweight matchup between Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis has been scheduled for UFC 226, the pay-per-view card that caps off this year’s International Fight Week.

MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani reported the news Friday afternoon.

Ngannou (11-2) fought for the UFC title against champion Stipe Miocic in his last fight. “The Predator” was favored to win the UFC 220 main event this past January, but fell to Miocic via dominant decision, as he was outgrappled for the majority of the contest. Prior to that, he won six UFC fights in a row, including a first-round stoppage of Alistair Overeem last December.

Lewis (19-5) is coming off a third-round TKO win over Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night 126 two months ago. That rebounded “The Black Beast” from a fourth-round loss to longtime contender Mark Hunt last summer. Before that defeat, Lewis beat former top contender Travis Browne inside the distance.

UFC 226 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 7. In the main event, Miocic defends the heavyweight belt against reigning light heavyweight titleholder Daniel Cormier.