Derrick Lewis’ fight against Jhonata Diniz has been scrapped from tonight’s UFC Fight Night 246 event in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
‘The Black Beast’ successfully weighed in yesterday for the heavyweight bout, but he didn’t show up for the ceremonial weigh-ins later in the day, and it has since emerged that a non weight-related medical issue is the reason he’s had to withdraw from the event.
With there being little time to rustle up a replacement, that means Diniz has also been pulled from his main card spot on the line-up, potentially leaving the door open for the fight to be rescheduled for a later date.
The 39-year-old Lewis had been heading into tonight’s event coming off a TKO victory against Rodrigo Nascimento in his only other fight this year back in June. Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Diniz had picked up two wins since joining the UFC earlier in the year, extending his overall career record to 8-0.
With the fight cancelled the UFC has opted to move a preliminary card bout between Ariane Lipski and Jasmine Jusudavicius up the bout order to complete the six-fight main card.
Meanwhile, the event remains headlined by a flyweight fight between former champion Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi, while a women’s flyweight bout between Erin Blanchfield and Rose Namajunas takes the co-main event spot.
