Max Holloway is gearing up to make a triumphant return to the Octagon after being forced to withdraw from UFC 226, where he would have defended his featherweight championship against Brian Ortega. The causes of the concussion-like symptoms that hospitalized Holloway and made him inactive are still unknown, but the doctors have given Holloway the go-ahead and return to competition (Via MMAweekly.com):
“The good thing is all the concussion experts and stuff, they said that I’m clear and free from all of that,” Holloway revealed on “UFC Tonight”. “We saw some doctors about my health with my potassium levels and stuff was great so we can cut out that whatever weight cut thing that people was saying.
“The great thing is we don’t really have an answer but at the end of the day, they’re clearing us to fight. The big things that everybody was worried about, it’s not that so I’m excited. It’s time to get back to work, where I belong in that Octagon and can’t wait to get back to what I love.”
Reports of Max Holloway facing Ortega at UFC 231 being in the works has already been broken by outlets and confirmed by Ortega himself, but the bout still remains unofficial:
“We’ll see what happens,” Holloway said about when he’ll return to action. “As everybody saw, I found out the same way that everybody found out about some fight in Toronto. I found out from the internet. Some media guy texted me ‘hey congrats on the fight, champ, when do you want to talk about it? Let me know’. I was like what fight? I didn’t text him back. I went on the internet and saw the news going crazy.
“I guess the UFC is doing the right thing. They know they don’t need to tell me about any fight, they just send me over the contract and your boy’s ready.”
Max Holloway does not seem at all shy about sealing the deal and meeting Ortega at UFC 231, so let us all hope that it is only a matter of time before we get the official word that he will do just that.
Do you believe Max Holloway should return to action this year after the UFC 226 scare?
