Derrick Lewis has been medically cleared after getting removed last-minute from his main event clash with Serghei Spivac earlier tonight (Sat., Nov. 19, 2022) at UFC Vegas 65 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
During the “Prelims” broadcast of UFC Vegas 65, the cageside team announced that Lewis had been removed from the card due to a non-COVID related illness. The news was quite shocking considering “Black Beast” was just hours away from making his walk to the Octagon. But after being rushed to the hospital the heavyweight contender was deemed medically-unfit to compete.
Details were scarce at the time, but we now know that Lewis was suffering from a stomach illness that prevented him from fighting (via MMA Junkie). According to Dr. Jeff Davidson, who works alongside the promotion, Lewis has since been medically cleared of his stomach issue and is expected to make a full recovery after being released from the hospital.
That is about all we know at this time. Lewis has yet to release an official comment regarding his UFC Vegas 65 withdrawal.
Assuming Lewis might make a speedy recovery from his stomach problems it’s possible that UFC re-books his matchup with Spivac in short time. The promotion may even try to squeeze the heavyweight bout into a card before the end of the year. We won’t know for sure, but Lewis is likely eager to step back inside of the Octagon after suffering back-to-back knockout losses to Sergei Pavlovich and Tai Tuivasa earlier this year.
For complete UFC Vegas 65 results and coverage click here.