Dana White: Max Holloway Won't Fight in UFC 'Anytime Soon' Due to Concussion

UFC President Dana White ruled out an expedient return to the Octagon for Max Holloway after the featherweight champion was pulled from the UFC 226 card.

"There's no way this guy is going to fight anytime soon," White said Thursday, per ESPN's Ariel Helwani.

Helwani shared a statement from Holloway's team Wednesday that said the fighter was suffering from "concussion-like symptoms":

Holloway was slated to defend the featherweight title against Brian Ortega on Saturday in Las Vegas.

This is the third time Holloway has had to bow out of a scheduled fight. He suffered a leg injury during training for UFC 222 in February, and doctors prevented him from competing at UFC 223. In the case of the latter, the odds were against him actually competing since he was a last-minute replacement for Tony Ferguson.

MMAjunkie's Mike Bohn noted Holloway's troubles have been part of a larger trend for UFC:

Because news of Holloway's injury came so late in the week, finding a new opponent for Ortega was next to impossible. UFC announced it scrapped the fight altogether, with Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis getting bumped up to the co-main-event slot alongside Stipe Miocic's battle with Daniel Cormier.

According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, UFC scrambled to book an interim featherweight championship fight between Frankie Edgar and Jeremy Stephens but encountered too many hurdles to make it happen.

If Holloway's injury leaves his return up in the air, then the company will likely need to finalize an interim title fight sooner rather than later.