Derrick
Lewis has been dealing with a health issue for a long time.
Lewis is coming off a second-round stoppage loss against Waldo
Cortes-Acosta at UFC 324
this past January. “The Black Beast” was seemingly just out of the
fight after a lousy slip while Cortes-Acosta rained down a barrage
of shots, forcing the referee to step in. Lewis recently revealed
that he was dealing with back issues during the fight. While Lewis
weighed in at 263.5 pounds, he went up to 296 pounds on fight
night, which triggered his persistent back issues. Lewis also
revealed that his problem has forced him to pull out of fights at
the last moment multiple times. Lewis told UFC on Paramount+:
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“One of my downfalls I’ve had my whole career is always my back.
I’ve been having back issues; I believe that it really got down,
down, down. My last fight I cut a lot of weight. I didn’t walk
around to where I usually fight at. Right after I made weight, I
went all the way back up to 296 [pounds]. I gained way too much
weight way too fast, so it hurt me in my last fight. I had back
issues the whole time. Also one of the reasons I pulled out of a
lot of my fights before, the day of the fight, is because I gained
that weight back.”
Lewis (29-13) has pulled out of bouts on a day’s notice on three
occasions in the UFC. Lewis is now scheduled to fight Josh Hokit
(9-0) at
UFC White House: Freedom 250 on June 14. The undefeated Hokit
is coming off a decision win over Curtis
Blaydes, which is the first time he has gone the distance in
his career.
Derrick
Lewis explains what went wrong in his last fight:„Right after I made weight, I went all the way back up to 296
[
[pounds]. I gained way too much weight way too fast, so it hurt me
in my last fight. I had back issues the whole time.“
#UFCWhiteHouse | JUNE 14 | 8 PM ET… pic.twitter.com/JoI2q9ql7D— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount)
June 5, 2026