Ciryl Gane made a statement for himself this past weekend at UFC Vegas 30, where he put on an impressive performance over Alexander Volkov, defeating the Russian by unanimous decision.

Ranked at #3 prior to this contest, this put Gane in a clear contender’s position. Unfortunately, the Heavyweight title picture is in a sort of logjam, with Jon Jones teasing his entry to the division, as well as this former champion.

The UFC was targeting the first title defense for current Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for July or August, opposite Derrick Lewis, who cemented his status as a challenger with a blistering knockout of Curtis Blaydes.

However, Ngannou could not make the targeted date, and the UFC decided to put on an interim title bout between Gane and Lewis, first announced by Dana White to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.

This decision is certainly not without controversy, as Ngannou captured the crown just three months ago, making this the fastest interim title given out during a champion’s absence. On top of this, Ngannou was offered the Lewis fight for September and he accepted that fight, though the UFC went ahead with the interim fight anyways.