Derrick Lewis Fought With Torn ACL For Four Years

Top-ranked heavyweight Derrick Lewis fought for several years with a significant injury.

Lewis lost his most recent bout to former champion Junior dos Santos by TKO in the main event of March 9’s UFC Wichita. He was hurt by some big body shots before an overhand right and follow-up punches put an end to the headlining bout. After the loss, Lewis’ team claimed he was suffering from a serious injury, to which many saw as an excuse.

Yet it appears that’s not the case whatsoever. Lewis told ESPN this week that he found out he had a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus in his left knee two weeks before his fight with dos Santos. He told the UFC about the injury. Doctors somehow told him he could go on with the fight.

But Lewis felt his knee “go out on him” during the bout. He now requires surgery, which is set for next Tuesday.

That’s not all, howver.

It was determined by medical doctors that Lewis tore his ACL way back in his February 2015 win over Ruan Potts. Lewis sustained all three tears when Potts went for a kneebar. ‘The Black Beast’ survived and won the fight by TKO. The veteran then went on to roll up a 9-4 record in his next 13 UFC fights. The high point was when he competed for the heavyweight title at last November’s UFC 230.

All told, that’s quite the string of impressive feats considering how serious a knee injury he was dealing with.

Lewis expects to be out for six months due to his surgery.