MAX HOLLOWAY WILL aim for his 13th consecutive victory when he puts his UFC featherweight title on the line in the main event at UFC 222.
Defending the belt for the second time since becoming champion earlier this year, Holloway (19-3) has been booked to face Frankie Edgar (22-5-1) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, 3 March.
Holloway was originally scheduled for a title bout against Edgar at UFC 218 last month. After Edgar withdrew due to an injury, Jose Aldo was drafted in as a replacement but suffered a third-round TKO defeat to the reigning champion in Detroit.
It was the same outcome when Holloway and Aldo clashed six months earlier. Back in June, Holloway — who’s undefeated since his August 2013 loss to Conor McGregor — stopped Aldo and relieved him of the undisputed 145-pound crown.
Edgar, whose two most recent outings resulted in wins over Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez, is no stranger to championship bouts. Against Holloway, he’ll be aiming to avoid a third consecutive failed challenge for an undisputed UFC title. It’ll also be his third opportunity to finally claim a belt in the featherweight division.
#Vegas, the featherweight strap is on the line in March!@BlessedMMA takes on @FrankieEdgar in the main event at #UFC222 @TMobileArena!
— UFC (@ufc) January 9, 2018
🎟 ➡️ 1/19 ➡️ https://t.co/m94FHYUKJq pic.twitter.com/qjPxDpSLDy
A former lightweight champion, Edgar lost the 155-pound title to Benson Henderson in February 2012 and came up short again when the pair met in a rematch six months later.
The New Jersey veteran then moved down to the featherweight division and lost to Aldo in a title bout in his 145-pound debut. Over three years later, at UFC 200 in July 2016, Edgar suffered another five-round defeat to Aldo, but this time in a bout for the interim title after the Brazilian had been dethroned by Conor McGregor.
Should he get the better of Max Holloway on the first weekend in March, Edgar will become just the fifth fighter in history to have won UFC titles in two separate weight classes, following in the footsteps of Randy Couture (light-heavyweight and heavyweight), BJ Penn (lightweight and welterweight), Conor McGregor (featherweight and lightweight) and Georges St-Pierre (welterweight and middleweight).
