Breaking! Max Holloway forced out of UFC 226!

UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will no longer be defending his title against undefeated contender Brian Ortega at UFC 226.

ESPN first reported the news that Max Holloway (19-3 MMA) has been hospitalized due to concussion-like symptoms and has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled UFC 226 co-headliner against “T-City”.

Holloway’s management team released a statement to MMAjunkie with some details on the situation:

“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 overnight. 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.”

It is unknown at this time whether or not the UFC will try and find a short-notice replacement for Brian Ortega.

Stay tuned to BJPENN.com for further updates.