Cody McKenzie Injured, Leonard Garcia Gets Max Holloway in Featherweight Duel at UFC 155

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Featherweight prospect Max Holloway has stepped up on short notice to replace the injured Cody McKenzie at UFC 155.

Promotion officials announced the news Wednesday, revealing that Holloway will square off with the hard-swinging Leonard Garcia at the Dec. 29 event, which takes place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Cain Velasquez will attempt to regain his UFC heavyweight title from Junior dos Santos in the evening’s main event, which airs live on pay-per-view.

Just 21 years old, Holloway has already shown great promise in his three-fight UFC career, posting back-to-back victories after suffering a submission defeat to rising talent Dustin Poirier in his Octagon debut. The Hawaiian rebounded from that setback with a complete domination of Pat Schilling this past February and then knocked out “Ultimate Fighter” Season 15 alum Justin Lawrence on Aug. 11 at UFC 150.

Garcia, meanwhile, has lost three straight fights. The 33-year-old failed to record a victory last year, submitting to a Chan Sung Jung twister before relinquishing a unanimous decision to Nam Phan in their UFC 136 rematch. “Bad Boy” made his lone appearance this year on June 8, dropping a unanimous decision to Matt Grice at UFC on FX 3.