Derrick Lewis Could Be Dealing With Life-Threatening Medical Condition
Derrick Lewis picked up another victory inside the UFC’s Octagon this past weekend at the UFC 247 pay-per-view (PPV) from his adopted hometown of Houston, Texas.
Lewis defeated Ilir Latifi via unanimous decision to open up the main card. Now, Lewis said he’s open to serving as a backup fighter for the UFC Columbus main event in March between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Speaking on “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show” earlier today (Mon. February 10, 2020), Lewis noted that he’s still available, but his coach wants him to get a medical condition checked out, as it’s been affecting his training.
“Yeah, I’ll be available, but also, my coach wanted me to get something checked out that came up in my medicals and stuff like that that’s been hindering my training,” Lewis said. “We’re really supposed to be keeping it on the down-low, but I got to get it checked out. UFC doctors know what it is, and the doctors here in Houston already know what it is as well. So it’s just something that’s been going on that I still got to get addressed.”
When asked whether or not the condition was serious, Lewis actually revealed that it’s a real life or death situation. While Lewis is usually one to joke around, “The Black Beast” didn’t appear to be in any sort of joking manner when discussing the undisclosed medical condition.
“Oh yeah, it’s real like life or death situation serious,” Lewis said. “I’m dead serious. Yeah, yes. I’m dead serious. It’s something that happens to a lot of athletes, it don’t matter if you’re healthy or not. It’s something that can happen to you at the drop of a hat. That’s all I can say. No, I’m not worried.”
Lewis added that he’ll be going to the doctor soon for a followup. His personal doctor actually recommended that he not even fight this past weekend, but the UFC doctors told him it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Probably like next week I’m going to go to the doctor, maybe this week we’ll see,” Lewis said. “It could affect my life. The doctor actually had told me that he didn’t think I should have taken this last fight. That’s what he had said.
“He said that a situation like this, he doesn’t think I should fight. So I got a second opinion from the UFC doctors and they read over everything and checked everything out. They’re saying that it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Lewis did not want to go into specifics as to what exactly he’s dealing with, but noted that, whatever it is, actually affected him in the first round of his fight with Latifi. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.
What do you make of Lewis’ comments on his medical issues?
