SYMPATHY FOR MAX
UFC 226 fighters worried about the health of featherweight champ Holloway
LAS VEGAS — Normally, when a UFC fighter is pulled from a big match it’s greeted with a mixture of anger and indignation.
It was different on Thursday, though, after featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced to withdraw from his title defence against Brian Ortega at UFC 226 this weekend.
Holloway was showing concussion-like symptoms and was rushed to the emergency room on Monday, his team said in a statement.
Initial scans didn’t reveal any causes for concern, but the 26-year-old collapsed after Wednesday’s open workouts and his team had trouble waking him up.
Put plainly, the whole situation was scary.
“It’s a concern, it’s a lot of concern,” said UFC lightweight Michael Chiesa, who is scheduled to fight Anthony Pettis on Saturday. “You go through camps and, especially for Max, this is his third fight this year that has been pulled for him and he’s been taking headshots.
“I know they said it has nothing to do with the weight-cut, but I think at the end of the day it does play a part in the symptoms worsening.”
At a news conference on Thursday afternoon, UFC president Dana White provided an update of sorts about Holloway’s situation.
The main takeaway was that while Holloway himself is saying he feels fine, it will be a while before he fights again and the 145-pound champion will be undergoing considerable medical testing.
“It’s a weird situation,” White said. “I was just talking to (UFC vice-president of athlete health and performance) Jeff Novitzky in the back and there’s a couple of different (explanations), some people think it’s concussion-related and some people think it’s weight-cutting related, they haven’t really gotten down to the bottom of what it is.
“According to him he feels fine, but obviously he’s not fine. We’re going to continue to try to figure out what’s wrong with Max Holloway. In the meantime, there’s no way this guy is going to fight anytime soon.”
A year ago, White was harshly critical of Amanda Nunes for pulling out of UFC 213 due to an illness, but the attitude surrounding Holloway’s removal is considerably more forgiving.
In part, that’s because everyone around the fight game has an understanding of the risks of head injuries.
The fighters subject themselves to repeated blows to the head on a regular basis, and in 2018 there’s more than enough information out there to understand how dangerous that trauma can be.
“When it’s body, a lot of the times, you tough it out,” said UFC lightweight Lando Vannata. “When it’s something as serious as a concussion happening, it’s smart, especially when it’s that bad. If you just have a little headache and you bail it’s a different story, but if you have serious symptoms I think that’s very smart, because you don’t want to cause serious damage.”
That sentiment was echoed over and over again on Thursday. Among the 12 fighters who Postmedia spoke to, every single one of them said they understood why Holloway had to be pulled from the UFC 226 card and that they harboured no hard feelings towards him.
“I’m definitely concerned, it’s a very rough situation because he’s only 26-yearsold and is already dealing with these issues,” said UFC welterweight Curtis Millender, who takes on Max Griffin at UFC 226. “It’s scary. I wish him the best, I wish he would have said something a little sooner for the sake of the card, but I get it.”
Ortega, Holloway’s scheduled opponent for Saturday night, was pulled from the card and will not be competing. White said the company had offered him a fight with Jeremy Stephens, but Ortega had declined.
A heavyweight contender fight between Derrick Lewis and former challenger Francis Ngannou was promoted to the co-main event spot.