Derrick Lewis is cleared to return to competition after he was removed from his fight against Serghei Spivac at UFC Vegas 65 this past Saturday.
UFC color commentator Brendan Fitzgerald announced on the broadcast that Lewis was suffering from a ‘non-COVID, non-weight cutting issue’ and could not compete in the scheduled headliner. The ‘Black Beast’ was reportedly hospitalized, but details regarding his hospitalization were unknown.
Following the competition of UFC Vegas 65, Dr. Jeff Davidson — an emergency medicine physician working with the promotion — told Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie that Lewis went to the hospital for ‘stomach issues’. He was cleared and released shortly after.
Lewis has not addressed his short-notice withdrawal.
It is unknown yet whether the UFC expects to keep the Lewis vs. Spivac booking intact. There are a few remaining events in 2022, so it is possible the fight can either be shifted to one of those or rescheduled for 2023.
In what would have been his third appearance this year, Lewis was aiming to snap a two-fight losing skid. The one-time UFC heavyweight title challenger has suffered back-to-back KO losses to Tai Tuivasa and Serghei Pavlovich.
As a result of Lewis’ withdrawal, the co-main event between light heavyweights Kennedy Nzechukwu and Ion Cutelaba took center stage. The ‘African Savage’ finished the ‘Hulk’ by second-round TKO.
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