M. Holloway has difficulty reaching the featherweight weight of 66 kg. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook @BlessedMMAoffical
Max Holloway will put the featherweight belt up for grabs against Brian ortega in the main fight of UFC 231, this Saturday (08), in Toronto (CAN). The fight was scheduled to take place at UFC 226 in June this year, but 'Blessed' felt concussion symptoms before the weigh-in and was removed from the fight. Noting the Hawaiian's difficulty in losing weight, Ultimate president Dana White stated that the champion is 'too big' to continue competing in the 66 kg division.
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“I think he needs to go to '55 lb' [77 kg, lightweight]. He's too big for that weight. You can't keep doing this to yourself and cutting down to '45lb' [65kg, featherweight]. But do you know what he wanted? He wanted this Ortega fight”, said White in an interview with the North American website MMA Junkie.
Following concussion symptoms at UFC 226, Holloway was cleared by doctors to return to fight in Ultimate. Therefore, the organization's commander assured that he was calm about 'Blessed's health.
“You know, I didn't want him to fight again at 65 pounds. He really wanted this fight. He was cleared by all the tests, doctors and everything we did. So let’s see what happens”, concluded White.
The featherweight champion hasn't fought since December 2017, when he knocked out José Aldo for the second time and retained the title. In 2018, Holloway had three fights scheduled, but was withdrawn from all of them due to health problems. In March, a leg injury took him out of the duel against Frankie Edgar.
In April, Holloway was hastily selected to play in the top division against Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, Max had problems with his weight cut the week of the fight and was removed from the fight. In July, the champion would face Brian ortega, but felt symptoms of concussion and was banned from the confrontation.
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