Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis, who hold the promotion’s all-time knockout record at 15, was unable to add to his mark at the UFC Edmonton MMA event last night in Canada, thanks to a mysterious “medical issue” that sent “The Black Beast” to the sidelines.
So what the heck happened?
“There is nothing to update beyond what the official release was,” UFC exec Dave Shaw revealed at the UFC Edmonton post-fight press conference. “It was not a fight-related medical issue or not a weight-cut-related medical issue. The situation yesterday was all … it was all happening in real time. So we didn’t actually have enough answers at the time of ceremonial weigh-ins yesterday. He weighed in yesterday morning.”
This is not the first (or even the second) time Lewis has bailed on fight night.
“He had to cut a little bit but it’s not uncommon for him,” Shaw continued. “And then, over the course of the afternoon, he started to get the medical treatment and we just didn’t have any answers. So at that point, it made more sense for us to proceed with the weigh-ins with Diniz and try to figure out what was going on before making any decisions. But there is no substitute to taking the safe road when it comes to athlete health and safety. So it was the right decision to not compete.”
His opponent, Jhonata Diniz, was later rebooked to face Marcin Tybura at UFC 309.