Max Holloway out at UFC on ESPN 26, Yair Rodriguez fight postponed

The highly anticipated showdown between former featherweight champion Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez is on hold.

An injury has pushed Holloway (22-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC) out of the UFC on ESPN 26 main event next month and the fight with Rodriguez (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will be moved to a later date. News of Holloway’s injury first was reported by UFC broadcast partner ESPN through ESPN Deportes.

Holloway vs. Rodriguez was set to headline UFC on ESPN 26 on July 17. While a location and venue haven’t been announced, the card most likely will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event is set to feature the return from retirement of former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Miesha Tate against Marion Reneau. It is not yet known if that bout will become the main event.

Holloway lost the featherweight title in December 2019 to current champ Alexander Volkanovski. He lost a split decision to him in a July 2020 rematch, giving him losses in three of four fights. But he bounced back in January with a dominant decision win over Calvin Kattar at UFC on ABC 1 to put himself back in the title conversation.

Rodriguez hasn’t fought since an October 2019 win over Jeremy Stephens. He was scheduled to return in August 2020 against Zabit Magomedsharipov, but an ankle injury took him out of the fight. On his recovery, he was booked for the Holloway fight. But now his long-awaited return is on hold again.

With the change, the UFC on ESPN 26 lineup now includes:

• Marion Reneau vs. Miesha Tate
• Amir Albazi vs. Ode Osbourne
• Sergey Morozov vs. Khalid Taha
• Guram Kutateladze vs. Don Madge
• Gabriel Benitez vs. Billy Quarantillo
• Francisco Figueredo vs. Malcolm Gordon
• Anderson dos Santos vs. Miles Johns
• Alan Baudot vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
• Phil Hawes vs. Deron Winn
• Islam Makhachev vs. Thiago Moises
• Mateusz Gamrot vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Alan Baudot vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
• Amanda Lemos vs. Montserrat Ruiz
• Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Rodriguez