One of summer’s hottest fights has fizzled.
Max Holloway was to face Yair Rodriguez in July, topping the UFC on ESPN 26 card. However, with “Blessed” suffering an undisclosed injury, the featherweight fight has now been postponed. No new event or date has been revealed for the fight, which was originally penciled in for July 17.
ESPN was first to report the news of Holloway’s withdrawal from the fight.
Holloway (22-6), the UFC’s former featherweight champ, bounced back from consecutive losses to Alexander Volkanovski by defeating Calvin Kattar in a lopsided beatdown on Fight Island in January. The win pushed the Hawaiian right back into the thick of things at 145lbs, after losing his title to Volkanovski and coming up just short in the rematch.
Yair Rodriguez (13-2, 1NC), meanwhile, has not competed since October of 2019. The Mexican fighter was, for a lengthy period, linked to a fight with Zabit Magomedsharipov. Initially, Rodriguez pulled out of the booking. Magomedsharipov has since been enduring health issues of his own.
The fight with Max Holloway appeared to be just what the doctor ordered to get “El Pantera” back on track. However, Rodriguez will now have to wait (along with the rest of us) for a new date.
The UFC on ESPN 26 card on July 17 current features the following match-ups:
Marion Reneau vs. Miesha Tate
Ode Osbourne vs. Amir Albazi
Guram Kutateladze vs. Don Madge
Khalid Taha vs. Sergey Morozov
Cameron Else vs. Aaron Phillips
Billy Quarantillo vs. Gabriel Benítez
Malcolm Gordon vs. Francisco Figueiredo
Miles Johns vs. Anderson dos Santos
Rodolfo Vieira vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Amanda Lemos vs. Montserrat Ruiz
Rodrigo Nascimento vs. Alan Baudot
Phil Hawes vs. Deron Winn
Islam Makhachev vs. Thiago Moises
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Jeremy Stephens
Daniel Rodriguez vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov
