Max Holloway Out; Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis Set as New Co-Main Event at UFC 226
With featherweight champion Max Holloway out of UFC 226, the heavyweight showdown between Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis has been shifted to the co-main event slot on Saturday night.
UFC officials announced the news on Thursday while confirming Holloway was being pulled from his scheduled fight against Brian Ortega.
Max Holloway is out of his scheduled bout against Brian Ortega due to injury and the fight has been removed from the card. No. 1 ranked heavyweight Francis Ngannou and No. 5 ranked Derrick Lewis will now be the co-main and Paul Felder vs. Mike Perry will move to the main card.
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 5, 2018
Holloway was suffering through concussion like symptoms that forced the featherweight champion to seek treatment at a local hospital thus forcing him out of his fight against Ortega.
That puts Ngannou vs. Lewis on deck as the new co-main event for the card as the heavyweights look to settle a long standing grudge when they meet on Saturday night.
The welterweight fight between Paul Felder and Mike Perry will now move up to the UFC 226 main card for pay-per-view after originally taking place on the prelims.
Meanwhile, the lightweight matchup pitting Lando Vannata against Drakkar Klose will move from the early prelims to the FS1 prelims airing on Saturday night.
UFC 226 moves forward with 11 total bouts on Saturday night.
