Twitter Mailbag: In Search Of Money Lining After Max Holloway Withdraws From UFC 226

UFC 226 lost its co-hand, although it still has a poster head that could radically change two different divisions. Would it be a good thing? Also, is there a bit of money to lose the featherweight title of the week of struggle?

All this and more in this week's Twitter Mailbag. To post your own question, send a tweet to @BenFowlkesMMA .

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Here is a consolation for you: At least Max Holloway did not survive the fight while experiencing concussion-type symptoms ". Seriously, watch and listen to the UFC Featherweight Champion in this video. Tell me it's a man who looks healthy and ready for an exhausting fight.

For now, no one seems totally sure of what makes Holloway insult his words or fall asleep in the middle of his sentence. Some might say that it's just the rigor of cutting weight, as if it makes it better.

Whatever the cause, the result is deeply troubling. This is not a guy who should enter a cage and fight anybody right now. This is a 26 year old champion who should watch for his long term health, even if it causes a short term disappointment for those of us who were excited to see this fight at the UFC. 226.

Another consolation prize? At least the UFC was unable to launch a last minute interim title fight at featherweight. It would make no sense and would have felt completely forced and unnatural. But that does not mean that the organization would not have done it if it had been possible. Thank you to the gods of MMA.

Not at all, and for several different reasons.

First, by "soon-to-be-retired," you mean after about a year and probably two more fights. It's Daniel Cormier's badessment of his own expiry date, although I think we both know that there might be a little room for maneuver in these plans for the right kind of fight with the right salary.

The road in the division in which everyone is a punch away from the dark lands.

If Cormier wins the title, he instantly becomes one of the great fighters of all time in the history of MMA, so that's fine. He also probably starts fighting with Jon Jones or Brock Lesnar, depending on their respective eligibility. Either or both would be huge, especially with the heavyweight title of the UFC on the line.

But also, let's not act as if the heavyweight division was climbing so high right now. Yes, Stipe Miocic brought stability to the top by winning and retaining the title. But the reaction to his title reign suggests that perhaps we do not like it as we thought.

Maybe a reshuffle at the top would not be the worst thing that could happen to the heavyweight division. Especially if she leaves Cormier, who testifies to the power of human resilience, standing alone at the top

Football kicks might force some strategic adjustments, but I do not think they're a major player. When you think of the most memorable cases, all those PRIDE head pirates and Chute Boxe head stomps, you're mostly dealing with fights that were almost over anyway. Even to be in a position to get up and kick someone in the head, you should normally be about to win already.

This could give the fighters more reasons to try to stand apart from someone's guard. But again, this also gives the potential upkicker a few more options on his back. But above all, it's a rule change that would be more shocking visually than anything else.

As for something that would really change the game? Think of the knees at the head of a fallen opponent. There are many more possibilities for these, and they can seriously change the risk-reward calculation of shooting for a double-leg.

After that? Bring back the headbutts and let Mark Coleman take his place at the top of the food chain.

That should not be a big deal, since MMA was supposed to be bigger that football now

But yeah, I hear you. They are not direct competitors in terms of slots, but it's hard to draw people's attention to your cage fight while the whole world is focusing on these battles for national pride in the most popular sport in the world.

Inside the MMA bubble, the UFC 226 is still a major event, even with the loss of the co-main event. But outside of the bubble, most people have already spent the time and energy they have to pursue sports in other areas. Moreover, this sport does not charge them $ 65 to watch it on TV.

Reading a fighter's memoirs, it's a bit like watching these complex opening ceremonies at the Olympics, where the host country tries to blur its entire history and cultural identity into a series of dance routines. It's not so much that they tell us who they are. It is they tell us who they think they are, which often means turning a blind eye to the internal contradictions that everyone sees. It's curiously revealing, if only because we take a closer look at the story this person tells himself

For this kind of book, give me something "by" Jon Jones. You know it would be written in a ghostly way, with a lot of polite things for public viewing, but I'd like to see how he sees a lot of ups and downs in his life and career – or at least how he wants that we thought he looks at them

As for the other, I want to read something that a fighter actually writes. Do not just talk to a negro. Sit down at the computer every day and tell the story yourself. For this kind of book, I rely on Julie Kedzie. She can actually write, and she was there in one of the biggest and best sports gyms while MMA was growing and changing at a crazy pace. I know she has stories to tell, and I can not wait to sit down with her book someday.

Ben Fowlkes is the MMA columnist for MMAjunkie and USA Today. Follow him on Twitter at @BenFowlkesMMA . Twitter Mailbag appears every Thursday on MMAjunkie.