Featherweight champion Max Holloway suffers concussion and is out of UFC 226

M. Holloway (photo) is out of UFC 226 (Photo; Reproduction Twitter ufc)

The witch attacked once again! With less than 48 hours left until the duel, Max Holloway is out of UFC 226, an event that takes place next Saturday (07), in Las Vegas (USA). The Hawaiian, who would defend the featherweight belt against Brian ortega, was removed from combat due to concussion symptoms. The information was released in the early hours of this Thursday (05) on the North American website of the ESPN channel.

As soon as the news was published by the broadcaster, the champion's team confirmed the problem with Holloway and issued a statement (read in full below) saying that the symptoms began last week and even before the weight cut began. Still according to the bulletin, the fighter passed out this Wednesday (05) and took a while to be revived.

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This is the second consecutive time that Max Holloway abandons a fight on the eve of the event. The Hawaiian left the main fight of UFC 223, in April, against the Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov in the fight for the lightweight belt. At the time, he had agreed to replace the injured Tony Ferguson with seven days left before the duel, but he failed to make weight and was removed from the show by the New York Athletic Commission.

New fight for Ortega?

The UFC did not comment on whether Brian ortega, Holloway's challenger, remains on the show or will be removed from the card. However, due to the short time it takes to call a new opponent, it is likely that the North American will also leave the contest and wait for the champion to recover so that a new fight can be scheduled.

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Official statement from Max Holloway's team

“The team Max Holloway and the UFC staff realized that Max had not been normal since last week. This has become obvious to many from watching his interviews and public appearances in recent days. He showed concussion symptoms even before he started weight cutting and was rushed to the emergency room when they admitted him last night. Initial tests showed he was fine and he was released on Tuesday afternoon but the symptoms continued.”