The headliner of UFC Vegas 65 was canceled hours into the start of the event.
UFC Vegas 65 lost its headliner.
During the live broadcast of the event, color commentator Brendan Fitzgerald announced that Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac was canceled after the ‘Black Beast’ was said to have suffered a medical issue and required medical attention.
“We have some unfortunate news to share with you,” said Fitzgerald. “Our main event was to be against Derrick Lewis and Serghei Spivac. There is a non-COVID, non-weight cutting illness on the Derrick Lewis side. So our main event today has been canceled. You hate to see it.”
No further details on the condition of Lewis was provided.
Upgraded from the co-main event to the main event is a light heavyweight fight between Kennedy Nzechukwu and Ion Cutelaba. That fight will remain a three-rounder, per the broadcast.
Lewis was hoping to snap a two-fight win streak. The heavyweight was finished in his past two appearances against Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 271 and UFC 277, respectively. Prior to that, Lewis earned a first-round KO of Chris Daukaus at UFC Vegas 45 in December. That appearance saw him broke the UFC record for most KO wins (13).
As for Spivac, he looked to extended his win streak to three. The ‘Polar Bear’ rebounded from a first-round TKO loss to Tom Aspinall with consecutive TKOs over Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai.
With the removal of Lewis vs. Spivac, UFC Vegas 65 moves forward with a five-fight main card that can be streamed on ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. PT.