After picking up a razor-thin decision over Ilir Latifi at UFC 247, Derrick Lewis opened up on Monday about a bigger battle in his life.
Lewis (23-7) was a guest on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. When asked if he could step in on short notice against either Francis Ngannou or Jairzinho Rozenstruik in their UFC on ESPN 8 main event, the answer was surprising.
“Yeah, I’ll be available but also, my coach wanted me to get something checked out that came up from my medicals and stuff like that,” Lewis said. “It’s been hindering my training, so we’re really supposed to be keeping it on the down-low, but I’ve got to get it checked out. The 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.”
“It’s like life-or-death situation serious.”
Helwani did not push the subject but wanted to dig a little deeper, as Lewis was being fairly cryptic.
“It’s something that happens to a lot of athletes that it doesn’t matter if you’re healthy or not,” Lewis said. “It’s something that still can happen to you at a drop of a hat. That’s all I can say.
“The doctor had actually told me that he thinks I shouldn’t have taken this last fight,” Lewis said. “He said if the situation like this that he don’t think I should fight, so I got a second opinion from the UFC doctors, and they ran over everything and they were saying it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Lewis is currently riding a two-fight winning streak but is unsure of his future. Despite not knowing exactly what the medical condition is, he stated that “something will leak out about it. I’m sure you guys got them, snitches.”
