Max Holloway, who was supposed to take on Yair Rodriguez in a 5 round fight on July 17, has had to withdraw from the competition. Holloway, who put up a striking clinic against Calvin Kattar in January, was expecting to challenge for the title with a win over Rodriguez. However, a reported injury has stalled his plans, according to ESPN’s Carlos Contreras Legaspi.

Holloway’s camp has released no information about the severity of the injury sustained. Thus, the time period for which the former champ would be out of competition is unclear at the moment.

The status of the rebooking of the fight is unknown at this point. Fighters like Edson Barboza and Giga Chikadze have pitched in to fight Rodriguez in place of Holloway, according to ESPN. The venue for the July 17 fight card was yet to be decided. But, The UFC Apex in Vegas was rumored to host the big featherweight bout.

ALSO READ: WOW! Edson Barboza Planning a Surprise if Max Holloway vs Yair Rodriguez Doesn’t Go According to Plan

Cancelation of Max Holloway bout another setback for ‘El Pantera’

Yair Rodriguez has not competed since the Korean Zombie fight in November 2018. This fight falling apart adds to a string of fights not materializing for ‘El Pantera’

Rodriguez, who comes off from one of the most impressive fights in UFC history, has been inactive since 2018. He was linked up to fight Zabit Magomedsharipov, but the booking failed to come to fruition a number of times. A fight, and hopefully a win, over Holloway would put the young Mexican fighter right back in the title mix again.

In his last outing, Holloway registered a strike record over Calvin Kattar. The performance was one of his best showings in the UFC and UFC President Dana White said that it had earned him a shot again at gold. However, Holloway had explained that he didn’t want to chase the title fight.“He [Volkanovski] doesn’t want a tougher fight, guys, let that sink in. He wants a different fight…He knows who the toughest challenge is…So at the end of the day I’m not gonna force someone to fight me,” he said during the post-fight conference.

WATCH: 5 Fights You Do Not Want To Miss At UFC Fight Night: Jung vs. Ige