Max Holloway will hope to put on another spectacular showing in the Octagon when he faces Yair Rodriguez in the featherweight main event of a UFC Fight Night, set for the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the evening of Saturday 13 November 2021.
Holloway (22-6) claimed a unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in his last fight back in January of this year, with the match proving to be a classic in which ‘Blessed’ put on an amazing show of offensive striking (and Kattar somehow absorbed an incredible amount of punishment to go right to the end of five rounds).
The victory put the 29-year-old Hawaii native back in the spotlight as one of the UFC’s top-ranked stars and he will be eager to remain on the winning path, having suffered three losses in his four matches prior to facing Kattar.
“I heard a bunch of people counting me out of the fight, people saying I was done, this and that. It didn’t bother me,” said Holloway.
“I know where my focus is, I know what I did, I know how to work, the sacrifices I had to do. The only people I had to show what I did was the people who sacrificed for me: my team, my family, my fiance, my son, my coaches—I took time from them away from their family—and those were the only people I wanted to show what this was all about.
“At the end of the day, it was just another fight to me. I don’t care what it is, it’s just another fight to me. People talk, talk, talk and talk. Drama sells. Let them be the drama.”
Rodriguez (13-2, 1 NC), meanwhile, is returning to the Octagon for the first time since October 2019. His last match produced a unanimous decision win over Jeremy Stephens.
The 29-year-old Mexican’s absence from UFC has been down to injury (which saw him miss a clash with Zabit Magomedsharipov last year) as well as six-month ban from anti-doping administrator USADA after he failed to notify the organisation of his whereabouts.
The ban lapsed in March of this year, and this clash against Holloway was slated for July, only to be set back due to an injury to the latter.
Retired former flyweight and bantamweight UFC champion Henry Cejudo believes ‘El Pantera’ will come out on top in this main event: “They are sleeping on Yair Rodriguez. I think he’s the toughest matchup for all of these guys because of his length and his kicks.
“Nobody is kicking [Alexander] Volkanovski! I do believe with a good game plan that Yair Rodriguez is going to beat Max Holloway, you heard it here first.
“I think styles make fights and I believe if you take away Max Holloway’s hands, there’s one thing that he always leaves behind and it’s that lead leg kick. It’s always there. If he can time that, I believe Yair Rodriguez can get the victory.”
The main card opens with a bantamweight clash between Song Yadong and Julio Arce, and is followed by Kevin Holland v Kyle Daukaus in the middleweight division; Philipe Lins v Ovince Saint Preux in the light heavyweight category; a women’s featherweight bout between Felicia Spencer and Leah Letson; and the co-main event is a heavyweight clash between Ben Rothwell and Marcos Rogerio de Lima.
UFC Fight Night: Holloway v Rodriguez – Main card
- Main event: Featherweight: Max Holloway v Yair Rodriguez
- Heavyweight: Ben Rothwell v Marcos Rogerio de Lima
- Women’s featherweight: Felicia Spencer v Leah Letson
- Light heavyweight: Philipe Lins v Ovince Saint Preux
- Middleweight: Kevin Holland v Kyle Daukaus
- Bantamweight: Song Yadong v Julio Arce
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