NSAC Responds To Lewis Weight-Cutting KO

UFC heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis claims he “blacked out” while cutting weight for his Sergey Spivak main event at UFC Vegas 68 earlier this year in Las Vegas, to the point where his coaches had to carry the lifeless “Black Beast” to safety.

“The last fight, I actually passed out just before weigh-ins,” Lewis said during the UFC 291 media day. “I blacked out, my coaches had to carry me, make sure I stayed conscious, and I just didn’t have any energy the rest of the week. I cut like 25 pounds in three days, not eating, just drinking water — probably just a little something to eat. It was a big eye-opener and it was in the back of my head during the fight.”

“I felt like I actually died, and I was thinking about all of the other fighters who went through that — they blacked out, came back, and couldn’t fight, they didn’t let the fighter fight,” Lewis continued. “Good thing it happened at the [UFC Performance Institute] and they gave me everything I needed to get up and walk out of there. It was a very scary moment.”

Scary moments seem to be a recurring theme for “The Black Beast.”

Lewis went on to lose by first-round submission but his comments about blacking out raised a few eyebrows in the combat sports community. There were also questions for Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) about the decision to let him fight.

Turns out the incident was kept under wraps.

“The Nevada State Athletic Commission Staff and Nevada State Athletic Commission medical team were not made aware of this,” NSAC executive director Jeff Mullen told MMA News.

NSAC was probably kept in the dark because it has a history of yanking fighters who talk too much during media appearances (see Gordon, Jared). It’s also possible that no one in a position of authority at the UFC Performance Institute was aware of the incident.

Or perhaps Lewis was cleared by UFC doctors on the scene.

Either way, the heavyweight knockout artist, fresh off his first-round finish over Marcos Rogerio de Lima at the UFC 291 pay-per-view (PPV) in Salt Lake City, may have some explaining to do the next time the promotion books him for a “Sin City” fight card.