UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced out of his scheduled title fight against Brian Ortega at UFC 226 early this month. The reason for doing so, however, has never been established.
Initial reports claim that the 26-year-old Hawaiian fighter was showing “concussion-like” symptoms even before he began his weight cut, urging his coaches to pull the plug on the fight with just three days left. UFC president Dana White was also left dumbfounded about what went wrong, but also concluded that it could be a case of water poisoning due to water-loading.