“The Black Beast” won’t compete Saturday after all.
Late Friday, less than 24 hours before he was scheduled to step into the cage, Derrick Lewis was removed from his bout vs. Jhonata Diniz due to medical reasons, the promotion announced Friday evening.
The heavyweight fight was scheduled to take place Saturday at UFC Fight Night 246 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Lewis (28-12 MMA, 19-10 UFC) was not present for Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins – an unusual occurrence for a fighter. UFC officials stated the fight was still scheduled to take place as planned at that time, but the bout has since been called off.
The cause of the medical issues is unknown, although the promotion said it was not related to Lewis’ weight-cut. He tipped the scales at the heavyweight limit of 266 pounds during Friday’s official weigh-ins.
It’s unclear what the next move is for Diniz (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who was expecting his first high-profile fight vs. Lewis.
With the cancellation, UFC Fight Night 246 continues with 13 bouts as follows:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Rose Namajunas
- Caio Machado vs. Brendson Ribeiro
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
- Trevin Giles vs. Mike Malott
- Pedro Munhoz vs. Aiemann Zahabi
- Ariane da Silva vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Victor Henry vs. Charles Jourdain
- Jack Shore vs. Youssef Zalal
- Rodrigo Nascimento vs. Alexandr Romanov
- Garrett Armfield vs. Serhiy Sidey
- Chad Anheliger vs. Cody Gibson
- Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Ivana Petrovic
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 246.
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