When Max Holloway stated, ‘I feel great, man,’ on UFC Tonight, Michael Bisping quickly called him out on it.
Max Holloway is out of UFC 226. ‘Blessed’ was forced to withdraw from his UFC featherweight title defence against Brian Ortega after being admitted to hospital with ‘concussion-like symptoms.’
This marks the third time in 2018 that Holloway has withdrawn from a fight. A leg injury forced him out of a scheduled fight against Frankie Edgar at UFC 222. Then the New York State Athletic Commission deemed him unable to continue his weight cut the day of the UFC 223 weigh-ins where he was set to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the undisputed lightweight strap.
It appears as though Ortega will sit out and wait for his title shot. While there are reports circulating that the fight will be moved to UFC 227’s headliner, the MMA community is more concerned with Holloway’s health.
As someone who knows the dangers of this sport very well, my thoughts and well wishes are with @BlessedMMA and his family. Hopefully this passes quickly and we get to see him doing what he does best very soon.
— michael (@bisping) July 5, 2018
“Don’t be offended.”
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was one of the first to bring Holloway’s health issue to light. He spotted something off with the Hawaiian during an interview on UFC Tonight.
I couldn’t ignore it. https://t.co/1tr0iGfrdP
— michael (@bisping) July 5, 2018
While Holloway claimed, he felt ‘great,’ Bisping was sceptical.
“Well Max, you say you feel great, and, you know, don’t be offended when I say this, but you look like you just got out of bed. Are you tired? What’s going on? How’s the weight cut? Are you drained? You look a little sleepy.”
Holloway did his best to downplay his appearance. He blamed his unwell demeanour on the media obligations.
“I’m good. A little bit tired. They got me doing a bunch of media stuff, but I’ll be fine, man. I can’t wait. I can’t wait to go out there and do the damn thing.”
Again, Bisping didn’t exactly accept that excuse. He just noticed a fighter who didn’t look like himself.
“Alright, as I said, no offence. But, you just look like you’re ready to fall asleep on me there.”
Check out the moment in the video embedded below. (From around the 2:35 mark)
