UFC 222: Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar set for title clash
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They'll fight it out for the featherweight belt in Las Vegas
Undisputed UFC featherweight king Max Holloway vowed to be an active champion after winning the title last year, and he's following through on that promise. The Hawaiian is wasting no time in kicking off his 2018 reign and has booked himself into a spring clash with one of the legends of the octagon.
Holloway will take on top featherweight contender - and former UFC lightweight champion - Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 on Saturday 3 March in Las Vegas.
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Holloway stunned Brazil's Jose Aldo with a third-round TKO finish to capture the featherweight belt at UFC 212 in Rio in June last year, then delivered an even more impressive performance to stop Aldo - again via third round TKO - in their rematch at UFC 218 in Detroit in December.
That second bout was originally scheduled to see Holloway face Edgar, but the New Jersey native was forced out of the contest after sustaining a broken orbital bone during his training camp.
Known as 'The Answer', Edgar is one of the most widely respected fighters in the UFC today. Despite being undersized for the division, he captured the UFC lightweight world title in 2010 when he defeated the legendary former champion BJ Penn at UFC 112.
Now competing at his more natural weight class as a featherweight, the 36-year-old is looking to become only the fifth fighter in UFC history to hold world titles in two weight classes, joining Penn, Randy Couture, Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre as a dual-weight UFC champion.
But Holloway has his sights set on his own level of greatness. 'Blessed' is riding a 12-fight win streak and has catapulted himself from exciting prospect to undisputed world champion.
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The UFC 222 fight card will also feature a heavyweight clash between seven-foot-tall Dutchman Stefan 'Skyscraper' Struve and Belarusian former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei 'Pitbull' Arlovski, while multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Mackenzie Dern will make her long-awaited UFC debut in a women’s strawweight bout against Ashley Yoder.
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Also set for action on 3 March is exciting young prospect Sean 'Sugar' O'Malley. The 23-year-old bantamweight earned himself a UFC contract after producing a knockout victory in an impressive display on Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, then picked up a win on his UFC debut with a unanimous decision over fellow prospect Terrion Flash Ware at The Ultimate Fighter Finale. He'll take on exciting striker Andre Soukhamthath.
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