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Report: Max Holloway out of UFC 226

Billy Hull
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Max Holloway paused during a training session on June 21. He has been pulled from Saturday’s UFC 226 featherweight title fight according to ESPN.com.

Waianae’s Max Holloway has been pulled from Saturday’s UFC 226 featherweight title fight against Brian Ortega due to concussion-like symptoms according to ESPN.com.

Calls to Holloway’s team and the UFC have not been returned.

In a statement from his management team exclusive to ESPN, it reads “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. 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 over night.

“Initial scans seemed okay 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. He is now back in the ER for further tests.”

Holloway hasn’t fought since a third-round TKO of Jose Aldo in December. He had a fight against Frankie Edgar in March fall through because of an ankle injury and then attempted to step up and fight Khabib Nurmagomedov on six days’ notice in April, but wasn’t cleared by doctors the day before the fight due to a severe weight cut.

In an interview with the Star-Advertiser before leaving for Las Vegas, Holloway said, “this is a superfight for the 145 (pounders). It’s a fight that doesn’t have the likes of Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo for the first time in 10 years.”

Holloway’s 12-fight winning streak is the fifth-longest in UFC history.

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