Max Holloway Pulled From UFC 223 Main Event
UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was supposed to be the savior of the upcoming UFC 223 pay-per-view event.
Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov was the original main event of UFC 223 for the lightweight title. However, it was revealed that Ferguson wouldn’t be able to compete due to injury.
The UFC was able to talk featherweight champion Max Holloway into accepting the fight and go for history as if he beats Nurmagomedov then he would be a two-division champion.
We then had the Conor McGregor bus attack that led to three fights being pulled from the event. Then, it was revealed on Friday that Holloway had been declared medically unfit to fight.
UFC President Dana White made the news official once he told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, who tweeted out the following:
BREAKING: Max Holloway has been declared medically unfit to fight. Holloway is out of UFC 223. Per Dana White.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 6, 2018
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if the UFC will find a replacement for Holloway, which is not likely due to the short notice.
Therefore, it’s likely that a rematch between Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the women’s strawweight title will be moved to the main event. It’s possible that Paul Felder or Anthony Pettis steps in to fight Nurmagomedov.
Here is how the card looks like right now:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
TBA vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov – for lightweight title
Champ Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – for women’s strawweight title
Calvin Kattar vs. Renato Moicano
Kyle Bochniak vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
Paul Felder vs. Al Iaquinta
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1/8 p.m. ET)
Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Felice Herrig
Lightweight: Joe Lauzon vs. Chris Gruetzemacher
Female Flyweight: Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Bec Rawlings
Lightweight: Evan Dunham vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/6 p.m. ET)
Featherweight: Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Kyle Bochniak
UFC 223 is set to take place on Saturday, April 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
