Derrick Lewis reveals that he is battling a 'life-or-death' medical condition

Derrick Lewis was a guest on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show and he opened up about his UFC 247 victory before dropping a bombshell that we frankly didn't see coming.

The popular UFC Heavyweight stated that he is currently dealing with a serious medical issue that has hindered his training and fight preparation. Lewis' doctor told him to pull out of his UFC 247 fight against Ilir Laitifi, however, the towering Heavyweight got himself checked by the UFC medical team, who gave him the green signal to compete.

Lewis reiterated that he isn't joking about the revelation and that he is legitimately suffering from a potentially major health problem.

While Lewis couldn't reveal the exact nature of his condition, he did say that what he's going through can happen to a lot of athletes in a heartbeat.

The undisclosed medical issue also affected Lewis' performance in the first round of his split decision win against Latifi.

Despite the ongoing problem, the former UFC title contender confirmed that he would be available as a backup for the Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik showdown.

“Yeah, I will be available (to be backup for Ngannou vs Rozenstruick). But my coach wants me to get something checked out that came up in my medicals that has been hindering my training. We’re supposed to be keeping it on the down low, but I got to get it checked out."

“The UFC doctors know what it is and the doctors here in Houston know what it is. It’s just something that’s been going on that I got to get addressed. It’s a life-or-death situation serious."

“It’s something that happens to a lot of athletes, it don’t matter if you’re healthy or not. It’s something that can still happen to you at the drop of a hat. It could affect my life.”

“My doctor told me he thinks I shouldn’t have taken this last fight. He said in a situation like this he don’t think I should fight. So I got a second opinion from the UFC doctors and they read everything and checked everything out. So they said it shouldn’t be a problem.” H/t Credit: MMAMania