Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez Targeted to Headline UFC Card on July 17

A featherweight clash pitting Max Holloway against Yair Rodriguez is in the works for the main event of an Ultimate Fighting Championship card on July 17.

UFC president Dana White revealed the booking to ESPN on Wednesday. Contracts have not been signed but the promotion is close to finalizing the bout. The card does not yet have an official location and also includes a bantamweight showdown between Miesha Tate and Marion Reneau as well as a lightweight tilt between Islam Makhachev and Thiago Moises.

A former featherweight champion, Holloway rebounded from back-to-back losses against current title holder Alexander Volkanovski in his last outing at UFC on ABC 1, where he authored a dominant five-round verdict over Calvin Kattar on Jan. 16. Holloway’s ledger also includes victories over the likes of Frankie Edgar, Brian Ortega, Jose Aldo (twice), Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas, Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson, to name a few.

Rodriguez has lost just once in 10 Octagon appearances. The Mexican star hasn’t competed since UFC on ESPN 6 in October 2019, when he outpointed Jeremy Stephens. He also owns wins over Chan Sung Jung, B.J. Penn, Alex Caceres, Andre Fili and Dan Hooker.