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 MMA gods giveth, and the MMA gods taketh away. On Wednesday, Ultimate Fighting Championship head Dana White
announced that Alexander
Volkanovski (23-1) would be facing Max
Holloway (23-6) for the third time atop
UFC 272. The two were set to throw down on March 5 inside the
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but that fight was not meant to be.
Per
ESPN on Friday, Holloway has aggravated a past injury and can
no longer compete on the March 5 card. There is no current word on
whether Volkanovski will receive a replacement foe in two months,
or if the headliner will shift to Aljamain
Sterling vs. Petr Yan
2.
Since a knockout loss in 2013 to Corey
Nelson, Volkanovski has looked nigh-unbeatable in the sport.
The Aussie has won an incredible 20 fights in a row, including 10
inside the Octagon. On his way up the division, Volkanovski topped
Darren
Elkins, Chad Mendes
and Jose
Aldo to get a crack at Holloway’s throne. Ultimately claiming
the crown from the Hawaiian in late 2019 and then defending it
against him in 2020, Volkanovski’s last performance came in a
thriller against Brian
Ortega in September 2021.
Holloway’s 2021 efforts proved to be fruitful, as he walloped
Calvin Katter in
Sherdog’s 2021 “Beatdown of the Year” winner that January.
“Blessed” returned in November to face high-flying Yair
Rodriguez, and the two battled it out for five hard rounds
until Holloway had his hand raised to put his first win streak
together since 2018. Win or lose, each of the last six outings for
Holloway have gone the full 25 minutes.
At this time, Volkanovski still is sitting in the headliner spot on
UFC 272, which is slated to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las
Vegas, without an opponent set. Should he be removed from the card,
the likely new main attraction would come in the form of the
rematch between Aljamain
Sterling and Petr Yan in a
grudge match for bantamweight gold. Other key matchups on the card
include a pivotal strawweight tilt pitting Marina
Rodriguez against Xiaonan Yan,
a featherweight scrap between Edson
Barboza and Bryce
Mitchell, and a 125-pound matchup between Jessica Eye
and Manon
Fiorot.
