Max Holloway will look to get a third crack at UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski when he meets a rising contender.
Holloway (22-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC) takes on Yair Rodriguez (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 197, which takes place Nov. 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Former featherweight champion Holloway bounced back from two straight losses to Volkanovski in emphatic fashion when he put on a masterclass against the durable Calvin Kattar in the main event of UFC on ABC 1 in January. Holloway’s 447 total strikes landed and 445 significant strikes landed were both UFC single fight records.
Rodriguez hasn’t competed since defeating Jeremy Stephens at UFC on ESPN 6 in October 2019. The 29-year-old Mexican was first sidelined due to injury, followed by a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspension on December 2020 due to three “whereabouts failures” during a 12-month period. Rodriguez’s return was delayed even further when his initial July booking against Holloway was scrapped when an injury forced “Blessed” out of the fight.
Check out the official poster for UFC Fight Night 197 below (via Twitter):
💥 Boom!!! El poster oficial del regreso de @panteraufc contra @BlessedMMA este 13 de Noviembre 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/dI3WJbuahm
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) October 18, 2021
The latest lineup for UFC Fight Night 197 includes:
- Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez
- Da Un Jung vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Andrea Lee
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Ben Rothwell
- Philipe Lins vs. Ovince Saint Preux
- Tucker Lutz vs. Lando Vannata
- Leah Letson vs. Felicia Spencer
- Collin Anglin vs. Sean Woodson
- Julio Arce vs. Song Yadong
- Joel Alvarez vs. Thiago Moises
- Kyle Daukaus vs. Kevin Holland
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