UFC 226: Featherweight champion Max Holloway drops out because of concussion-like symptoms

For the third time since December, Max Holloway, the UFC featherweight champion, has withdrawn from a fight, this time after his team and UFC officials noticed that he “was not normal” because of concussion-like symptoms that required two trips to the emergency room.

Holloway will not fight Brian Ortega in a UFC 226 bout Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, his team announced Wednesday, and UFC will not seek a replacement opponent for Ortega. “Max’s team and UFC staff noticed Max was not normal since late last week. This became obvious to many watching his interviews and public appearances the past few days,” the statement said. “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 okay, and he was released Tuesday afternoon, but symptoms still continued.”

Holloway (19-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was taken back to the ER for “further tests,” his team said, when he “was very hard to wake up” after a workout. The statement indicated that he had “flashing vision and slurred speech.” Holloway, 26, won the title Dec. 2 with a victory over Jose Aldo, but has since dropped out of UFC 222 with an ankle injury and UFC 223 because of problems with cutting weight after taking a fight on short notice.

“Max fought with his team to continue with the fight. He showed some improvement over the next day but was still showing obvious symptoms,” his team’s statement said. “After open workouts, he crashed and was very hard to wake up. When he did, he had flashing vision and slurred speech. He is now back in the ER for further tests.”

The fight with Ortega (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has been scratched from a card that features a heavyweight title defense by Stipe Miocic against light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Rescheduling the Holloway-Ortega fight for UFC 227 on Aug. 4 has been discussed, according to the Los Angeles Times, but there’s nothing definitive on that.

“It is what it is,” Ortega tweeted of the cancellation. “We’ll run this [expletive] later.”