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A featherweight fight with fireworks written all over it has been booked as former champion Max Holloway is expected to face Yair Rodriguez in the five-round main event at the upcoming UFC card on July 17.
Multiple sources confirmed the matchup is in the works when speaking to MMA Fighting on Wednesday following UFC President Dana White initially announcing the fight via ESPN.
Holloway will return to action while looking to build upon a lopsided win over Calvin Kattar in his most recent appearance back in January. The former 145-pound champion decimated Kattar over 25 minutes with a volume striking attack that left his opponent bloodied and battered when the fight was over.
The only setbacks that Holloway has faced since 2014 are a pair of losses to reigning featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski in back-to-back fights and a decision loss to Dustin Poirier for an interim lightweight title.
As for Rodriguez, the always flashy featherweight has booked his first fight since 2019, when he earned Fight of the Night honors against Jeremy Stephens. Rodriguez also picked up an impressive last-second knockout over “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung back in 2018 as he continued to move up the rankings at 145 pounds.
Holloway vs. Rodriguez is scheduled to headline the UFC card on July 17 with more fights to be announced in the coming weeks.