Things just got even worse for UFC 223 -- Max Holloway was not medically cleared to fight in the main event vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, according to multiple reports ... less than 24 hours after Conor McGregor’s violent bus attack forced 3 FIGHTS off the card.
Remember -- Max took the fight on 6 DAYS notice and had a ton of weight to cut. Seems his health was at risk in the final hours before hitting the scale ... and doctors had to call it off.
Holloway issued a statement shortly after learning the bad news -- "(Khabib) my brother I want to keep going but they are stopping me. Sorry to your team and the fans. You don’t deserve this."
As of now, unclear if another fighter could step in on a day's notice to fight Khabib.
FYI, doctors already told Michael Chiesa (facial cuts) and Ray Borg (eye cuts) they can't fight at 223 due to the injuries they suffered during the window-smashing attack by McGregor and his entourage at the Barclays Center.
Conor’s close friend, Artem Lobov, was also yanked from his fight after taking part in Thursday's melee.
Story developing ...