Max Holloway Out of UFC 226 Co-Main Event Against Brian Ortega
Featherweight champion Max Holloway has been forced out of his co-main event fight against Brian Ortega at UFC 226.
With just two days remaining until the fight, Holloway was taken to the hospital on Wednesday night dealing with concussion like symptoms after visiting the emergency room earlier this week as well.
Holloway’s condition was obviously severe enough that he was pulled from the card as he continues to seek medical treatment.
Holloway’s manager Brian Butler-Au from Suckerpunch Entertainment confirmed the news on Wednesday following an initial statement issued to ESPN.
“Max’s team and UFC staff noticed Max was not normal since last week. This became obvious to many watching his interviews and public appearances the past few days. He was showing concussion like symptoms before he even started his weight cut and was rushed to the ER on Monday night where they admitted him overnight. Initial scans seemed okay and he was released Tuesday afternoon but symptoms still continued.
“Max fought with his team to continue the fight. He showed some improvement over the next day but was still showing obvious symptoms. After open workouts, he crashed and was very hard to wake up, when he did he has flashing vision and slurred speech. He is now back in the ER for further tests.”
It’s an unfortunate turn of circumstances for Holloway as he’s now been pulled from three fights in 2018.
Holloway was originally slated to defend his title in March against Frankie Edgar but he suffered an ankle injury that forced him out of the fight. He then stepped in on extremely short notice to face Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event at UFC 223 in April but was pulled a day before the card after the New York State Athletic Commission was concerned over his weight cut.
Now Holloway has been forced out of his fight against Ortega as he seeks treatment in Las Vegas for the concussion like symptoms.
The UFC has made no official statement regarding Holloway being pulled from the card. It’s not likely Ortega would remain on the card either considering the close proximity to the event and the chances of finding a suitable replacement.
UFC 226 will move forward with the main event in tact as heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic takes on Daniel Cormier on Saturday night.
