Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has lost a
much-anticipated headliner a month before it was set to go
down.
ESPN Deportes first announced on Thursday that the UFC
on ESPN 26 headliner has fallen through, as Max
Holloway (22-6) suffered an injury and has been forced to
withdraw from his featherweight contest against Yair
Rodriguez (13-2, 1 NC). As a result, Rodriguez has been pulled
from the card as well, as the promotion is rebooking the fight on a
future date. There is no current replacement announcement for the
July 17 main event, and the UFC Apex card in Las Vegas’ highest
billed matchup now may be Miesha Tate
vs. Marion
Reneau at bantamweight.
Holloway snapped a rare losing streak in January by busting up
Calvin
Kattar in the year’s sure-fire “Beatdown of the Year”
candidate, landing more significant strikes in the fight than any
other fighter in UFC history. Before then, Holloway had fallen
short in three of four title fights, including a trip to
lightweight against Dustin
Poirier and a pair of featherweight title tilts against
Alexander Volkanovski. As a result of his work over the years,
Holloway stands above with the most significant strikes landed in
promotional history (2,618), registering nearly one thousand above the next
closest fighter of Donald
Cerrone at 1,727.
Rodriguez was looking to make his first appearance in just over 21
months, with his last outing a decision win over Jeremy
Stephens. Along the way, “El Pantera” had a thriller with
Zabit
Magomedsharipov fall away when the Mexican fighter broke his
ankle. U.S. Anti-Drug Agency issues also plagued the 28-year-old
top prospect, as he
earned a six-month suspension at the end of 2020 by failing to
notify USADA of his location three times in the span of a year. In
his UFC tenure, the “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” winner
has recorded knockout wins over the likes of Chan Sung
Jung, B.J. Penn and
Andre
Fili.
UFC on ESPN 26 carries on with 14 fights at the time, although few
ranked matchups remain on the card. The July 17 offering at the UFC
Apex in Las Vegas will still feature a bantamweight clash between
Marion
Reneau and Miesha Tate,
while a high-stakes lightweight affair will pit Islam
Makhachev against Thiago
Moises.
