Max Holloway is the latest in a long list of fighters to have been removed from UFC 223. The UFC Featherweight Champion was deemed not medically fit to compete and has been pulled from the card.
Holloway took to Twitter recently to address the situation:
. @TeamKhabib my brother I want to keep going but they are stopping me. Sorry to your team and the fans. You don’t deserve this. This is number one. Shout outs to you and @Showtimepettis . Give the fans what they deserve
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) April 6, 2018
Holloway tagged Pettis in the post as the current speculation is UFC wants him to fight Khabib at 223. Pettis’ fight with Michael Chiesa was canceled yesterday after Chiesa sustained multiple cuts during Conor McGregor’s attack on a bus.
Max Holloways Weight Cut
Holloway accepted the fight with Khabib on just 6 days notice. There was initial concern from his team that the short-notice weight cut would be difficult. Holloway’s nutritionist and weight-cut coach, George Lockhart, who is also working with Joanna Jedrzeczyk, referred to his pending weight-cut as tied for the most difficult he’s ever seen.
Despite the large cut required, Lockhart was confident in Holloway’s ability to make weight.
“Max I know is gonna do it to a tee,” Lockhart told MMA Fighting earlier this week. “I know he’s gonna be able to push himself to where most people aren’t willing to go. So, I’m excited. But still. When I was in the Marine Corps and we had to run three miles, it’s not like you couldn’t run three miles, it’s like because you have to do it in a specific amount of time, it’s not that you can’t do it, it’s just that you know what you gotta go through to get there and it’s like, ‘shit.’”
Lockhart would later state that Holloway’s 18-hour flight from Hawaii to Brooklyn helped shed 10 pounds off the featherweight champion. Despite this, Holloway was deemed medically unfit during weigh-ins this morning.
What’s Next for Max Holloway?
Max Holloway’s removal from UFC 223 puts him back in the same position he was in last week. Holloway has Brian Ortega breathing down his back for a title shot following his KO of Frankie Edgar at UFC 222.
