Former UFC Champion, Max Holloway really loves fighting, he could have to sit and wait for his title shot against Alexander Volkanovski since no other featherweight right now has a better argument for fighting for the title but Holloway just accepted a fight against #3 ranked featherweight, Yair Rodriguez.
Good to go, per sources. Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) vs. Yair Rodriguez (@panteraufc) will headline UFC Fight Night on Nov. 13. Holloway agreed to the date this week. Gotta believe winner takes on the Volkanovski vs. Ortega winner from tomorrow for the belt. Heck of a main event. pic.twitter.com/I8zZreIrDg
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) September 24, 2021
Holloway did not need to take the fight since he is coming off an amazing performance against Calvin Kattar making him already the front runner as the next title contender. If only the top 5 featherweights were more active, we would have different fighters get a title shot but sadly it has been only Holloway that shows activity.
Chan Sung Jung and Calvin Kattar are also active but they were coming off brutal one-sided losses that it does not make sense for the UFC to book them a title shot. Although the Korean Zombie just beat Dan Ige, he still needs a few more wins if he ever wants another title shot.
As for Yair Rodriguez, he is also a fighter that lacks activity. His last fight was back in 2019 and it was a rematch against Jeremy Stephens. He did win a unanimous decision but in the later rounds, he may have got into a bit of trouble. It may be his cardio but if he goes against Max Holloway, it might be dangerous since Holloway puts on relentless pressure.
During Rodriguez’s rise, he showed tremendous promise as a fighter since his fighting style is just so entertaining. He likes to throw creative striking like spinning kicks and he is also really accurate. Not only that but coming from Mexico, had he become a champion it would skyrocket him to superstar.
There were some issues with USADA and Rodriguez as they had a hard time finding Rodriguez in the country of Mexico, fortunately, they sorted it out. Rodriguez only has one loss in the UFC and it was against former UFC lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar. He was overwhelmed with Edgar’s wrestling that he had no answer to it.
We all know how good Max Holloway is, he is without a doubt either the best or second-best featherweight on the planet. His last performance against Kattar just showed that he is just on another level. He was talking to the commentator booth while dodging punches from Kattar.
Going into the fight, Kattar was called as possibly the best boxer in the division but Holloway then proved that his boxing is the best. He single-handedly destroyed Kattar in the boxing department, he may not possess the power but his volume is just too much to handle.
The fight against Rodriguez will be interesting, both great strikes that like to keep the fight standing up. Rodriguez has that creative striking that could give Holloway problems. Meanwhile, Holloway is just cleaning out the division.
