UFC 223 is having a rough week.
Featherweight champion Max Holloway has been pulled from Saturday’s main event fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov after being deemed medically unfit to compete. MMA Fighting confirmed the news Friday morning during UFC 223’s official weigh-ins following an initial report by ESPN.
MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported that commission doctors put a halt to Holloway’s weight cut in fear of his safety, however Holloway wished to continue. At the time of the decision, Holloway wanted to “keep pushing” and was “close,” a member of Holloway’s team told Helwani.
The loss of Holloway vs. Nurmagomedov marks the fourth fight to be scratched from UFC 223 over a 24-hour span, adding to the trio of fights lost on Thursday because of Conor McGregor’s attack on a fighter bus.
Holloway, 26, accepted the bout against Nurmagomedov on Sunday after an injury to Tony Ferguson derailed UFC 223’s main event six days out from fight night. Holloway’s nutritionist George Lockhart told MMA Fighting that Holloway’s impromptu weight cut was expected to be “tied for the largest weight cut” Lockhart had ever managed.
With Holloway out, the UFC is currently attempting to put together a replacement main event between Nurmagomedov and former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.
Pettis’ original UFC 223 fight against Michael Chiesa was cancelled on Thursday after Chiesa was injured in McGregor’s bus attack. Pettis has yet to weigh-in.
Update: Holloway tweeted out this statement Friday morning.
Max Holloway won’t get his chance at a second belt.
Holloway, the reigning UFC featherweight champion, was pulled from the main event of UFC 223 on Friday morning during official weigh-ins after being deemed medically unfit to compete by commission doctors while cutting weight.
Holloway was attempting an ambitious weight cut after accepting the fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov on six days’ notice as a late replacement for Tony Ferguson.
Following the announcement of his cancelled fight, Holloway released a statement on Twitter apologizing to Nurmagomedov and MMA fans.
. @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
The UFC is currently exploring options to keep Nurmagomedov on the card.
A replacement matchup between Nurmagomedov and former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is being discussed.
More on this story as it develops.
BROOKLYN, Kompas.com - Rencana pertarungan puncak UFC 223 terancam batal setelah juara kelas bulu Max Holloway dinyatakan tidak siap untuk menghadapi Khabib Nurmagomedov. Holloway (19-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) dinyatakan tidak siap secara medis untuk rencana pertarungan menghadapi Nurmagomedov (25-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), pekan ini. Padahal Holloway juga merupakan petarung pengganti setelah lawan sesungguhnya, Tony Ferguson (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC) mengalami cedera lutut. Pertarungan Nurmagomedov-Holloway akan dilakukan di kelas ringan dan akan menggantikan juara bertahan Conor McGregor . Skenario terburuk adalah mempertemukan Nurmagomedov dengan mantan juara kelas ringan, Anthony Pettis. Petarung yang memiliki frekor bertarung 20-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC ini sebenarnya akan bertarung menghadapi Michael Chiesa (14-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) sebagai partai tambahan. Namun Chiesa mengalami cedera di kepala akibat insiden yang melibatkan Conor McGregor di parkiran bus. Namun untuk menghadapi Nurmagomedov, Pettis harus menyesuaikan berat badan, juga harus mendapatkan ijin dari Komisi Atletik New Ypork. Kalau pun terwujud, pertarungan ini dianggap tidak sepadan. Pettis kalah dalam empat dari enam pertarungannnya yang terakhir. Ia mengalami kekalahan KO saat pertarungan terakhir menghadapi Dustin Poirie pada UFC Night 120, November lalu. UFC 223 akan berlangsung Sabtu ini di Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.
The build-up to UFC 223 had already been sensationally overshadowed by Conor McGregor's arrest for attacking a bus with Khabib Nurmagomedov on board.
And things have gone from bad to worse for the UFC, with doctors forcing Max Holloway to withdraw from the main event after a brutal weight cut. Anthony Pettis is likely to step up and face Nurmagomedov in the headline fight.
This is the fourth bout to be pulled from the main card after a hugely damaging couple of days for the UFC.
Khabib Nurmagomedov does not have an opponent as Max Holloway has been withdrawn
'Blessed' struggled with the extreme weight cut and was forced to withdraw on medical advice
Holloway was called up to replace Tony Ferguson on short notice and was heralded for saving the main event.
But the weight cut has proved too much for the featherweight champion, despite usually competing at 145-lbs. Dana White told Brett Okamoto that the Hawaiian would not be competing in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
Pettis was scheduled to fight Michael Chiesa on the card but his opponent suffered facial lacerations after McGregor threw a dolly through a bus window.
The lunacy of the last 24 hours has conspired to give Pettis a title shot from nowhere, though Nurmagomedov still needs to agree and the new challenger needs to make weight.
Anthony Pettis is the man set to step in and replace Holloway in the main event
The co-main event has Joanna Jedrzejczyk chasing revenge over Rose Namajunas who upset the previously undefeated Pole to become strawweight queen last November.
Namajunas (8-3-0) vs Jedrzejczyk (14-1-0)
Strawweight title fight
'Thug' Rose is nothing like her moniker would suggest. She was on the bus which McGregor and his mob attacked and felt so shaken up that she almost pulled out of her rematch with Jedrzejczyk.
Fortunately the co-main event goes ahead and this has Fight of the Night potential.
Namajunas shocked the world by handing a first defeat to the formerly undefeated champion in their UFC 217 clash.
Rose Namajunas (left) is looking to do the double over Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Namajunas earned the first knockout of her professional career in the first fight
The 25-year-old emphatically finished Jedrzejczyk in the opening round before using her time on the mike, not to issue any brash statements or call-outs, but to tell people to be nicer to each-other.
Charity will be the furthest thing from her mind in the rematch however, and the Polish supremo opposite her will be desperate to avenge the blotch on an otherwise clean copybook.
Jedrzejcxyk was on an express train to becoming one of the biggest names in the sport and although some of the gloss has worn off, the 30-year-old can still redeem herself.
For so long she was untouchable with her crisp, clean striking and endless energy reserves proving too much for all-comers, until Namajunas earned the first KO of her professional career.
The former champion is desperate to exact revenge on the new strawweight champion
The referee hauled Namajunas off her rival just two minutes into the first round last November
There were plenty of excuses after Jedrzejcxyk's defeat but the proof will be in the pudding. Avenge her defeat and an epic trilogy fight will be on the cards, but another loss would be devastating.
Namajunas seems to have the edge when it comes to mind games, staying ice cool and even chillingly reciting the Lord's prayer during the staredown of the first fight.
And she's aware that the first encounter has no bearing on the result this time, saying: 'You can't paint the Mona Lisa twice.'
Victory over a desperate former champion may not be the Mona Lisa but if Namajunas manages it, it would be a masterpiece in it's own right.
