Just two days after news broke of a trilogy fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway to headline UFC 272, it appears that bout now is on hold.
Former featherweight champion Holloway (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) has aggravated a previous injury and is out of the planned main event against champ Volkanovski (23-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC). MMA Junkie confirmed the news with a person with knowledge of the injury following an initial report from UFC broadcast partner ESPN.
The UFC has not yet made an announcement of Holloway’s withdrawal, and it is not known if Volkanovski will remain on the card against a new title challenger or simply wait for Holloway to be healthy.
UFC 272 is set for March 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+. The co-main event is a bantamweight title fight rematch between champ Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan, which for now appears to be the most logical choice to be elevated to headliner status if Volkanovski waits for Holloway.
Volkanovski holds two wins over Holloway. He took the featherweight title from him with a unanimous decision at UFC 245 in December 2019. The pair fought in a rematch at UFC 251, which Volkanovski won by split decision.
After that, Holloway went on a two-fight run in 2021 with decision wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. In his win over Kattar, he smashed the UFC record for strikes landed. Both bouts were Fight of the Night winners.
Volkanovski is one of only four fighters in UFC history to open his tenure with the promotion at 10-0. After his two wins over Holloway, he took a unanimous decision from Brian Ortega this past September in the UFC 266 Fight of the Night.
The UFC 272 lineup now includes:
Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan – for bantamweight title
Edson Barboza vs. Bryce Mitchell
Jessica Eye vs. Manon Fiorot
Mariya Agapova vs. Maryna Moroz
Dustin Jacoby vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Tim Elliott vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
Marina Rodriguez vs. Yan Xiaonan
