Max Holloway OUT Of UFC 226

UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway will not compete at Saturday's UFC 226 card after being hospitalised for concussion-like symptoms throughout the week.

Just yesterday a video from the UFC Tonight TV show showed Michael Bisping seeming concerned for Holloway, remarking that he didn't seem like his usual self in the lead up to the fight.

In a statement first reported by Ariel Helwani, Holloway's team noted the concerning symptoms that the Hawaiian fighter has been experiencing throughout fight week.

Max's team and UFC staff noticed Max was not normal since late last week. He was showing concussion-like symptoms before he even started his weight cut and was rushed to the ER on Monday where they admitted him overnight. Initial scans seemed OK, and he was released Tuesday afternoon, but symptoms still continued. Max fought with his team to continue with 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 had flashing vision and slurred speech.

Early reports suggested that the scheduled title fight with Brian Ortega would be moved UFC 227 in August, a card that already features two title fights. However, with Holloway still in the hospital, UFC president Dana White has since confirmed that Holloway is going to be out of action indefinitely.

It has also came out that both Frankie Edgar and Jeremy Stephens were contacted about facing Ortega for an interim title at UFC 226, but Ortega instead elected to wait for the Holloway fight.