Max Holloway-Yair Rodriguez Look To Keep It Going

Fresh off one of the biggest cards of the year, we get Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez this weekend.

The UFC brought it inside Madison Square Garden last Saturday. Kamaru Usman and Rose Namajunas defended their titles, and Justin Gaethje earned a big win.

With all that momentum going, the promotion will now hype a featherweight battle for the ages.

Holloway, a former UFC champion, meets Rodriguez in a five-round bout live on ESPN+. The card also features heavyweights Ben Rothwell and Marcos Rogerio de Lima. 

For Holloway, the 29-year-old has had an up-and-down past few years. He was 20-3 with a successful defense of his title back in 2018.

Since that time, though, “Blessed” has gone just 2-3 with two losses to Alexander Volkanovski and another to Dustin Poirier at lightweight. He did best both Frankie Edgar and, most recently, Calvin Kattar.

For Rodriguez, this is a chance to earn a statement win.

His last opportunity to do that was in 2017 when he lost to Frankie Edgar on the heels of finishing former champion BJ Penn. Unbeaten in his last three with wins over Jeremy Stephens and Chan Sung Jung, Rodriguez is right there.

The former Ultimate Fighter winner is constantly in fight of the night bouts. He has earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses three times and “Fight of the Night” honors four more times, including in his recent win vs. Stephens.