On the 8th of December in Toronto, Canada the UFC Featherweight Champion Max "Blessed" Holloway will be defending his title against the #1 ranked fighter in the featherweight division Brian "T-City" Ortega in a fight that was suppose to take place at UFC 226 but was scrapped to health concerns in regards to the champ Max Holloway. It is still very unclear to what was going on leading up to July 7th as rumors have floated around that have left us unsure. During Media obligations now retired former Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping noticed something was off with Max while he appeared on UFC On Fox via satellite interview.
The viewers and the UFC definitely took notice that Max was not ok. He seemed to have a delayed reaction to things while sounding very drained and tired. His eyes seemed glasses, and it definitely was not from the production set of the lights reflecting off of his eyes as something was clearly wrong. Even before the interview, it was said that Max did go to the hospital, but there was nothing wrong with him. It was a mystery to what exactly was going on with the UFC Featherweight Champion even upon until now we have not received a statement about what was going on.
Over time we have heard 2 possibilities to what was going on with Max Holloway. The first rumor was that Max Holloway was suffering from a terrible weight cut which would make sense because the champ is big for 145 lbs. But did he start the weight cut too late and miscalculated his approach? Did the champ do anything different from his previous 2 fights with the former champion Jose Aldo? It would definitely give an explanation to Max "Blessed" Holloways sluggish behavior and questionable body language during the interview with Michael Bisping.
The other rumor that was floating around is that the UFC Featherweight Champion got knocked out during training camp for the fight. While that makes sense and it could have been a brutal knock out it does not necessarily line up with what how Max was acting. Especially if there were lingering effects that seems like something UFC doctors, staff and doctors at the hospital would have caught onto immediately.
While everything is still unclear news would then eventually break that the UFC rebooked the fight and Max would be headlining UFC 231 to defend his Featherweight title against Brian Ortega. It is a fight that is a must watch and it leaves everyone scratching their heads.
The last time we saw the #1 ranked fighter in the featherweight division Brian "T-City" Ortega was when he stepped in on short notice to take on who was next up in line to face Max for the belt Frankie Edgar at UFC 222. "T-City" put on an incredible performance as he solidified himself as the #1 ranked featherweight in the UFC when he became the first person to knockout Frankie Edgar. Max Holloway's last bout was when he successfully defended his belt against Jose Aldo in their rematch when he gave Aldo a brutal beating that led to his TKO victory in the 3rd round.
