Max Holloway has been medically cleared to begin training and has apparently offered himself as backup for the Alexander Volkanovski vs. ‘The Korean Zombie’ featherweight title fight which takes place at UFC 273 on April 9.
“Per sources, Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) has been medically cleared from the injury that prevented him from fighting Alexander Volkanovski in March … he will resume training and has offered to weigh-in as a backup to Volk vs. KZ on April 9,” Brett Okamoto wrote on Twitter.
Holloway was supposed to face Volkanovski for the third at UFC 272 on March 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. ‘Blessed’ withdrew from the bout just days after it was officially announced due to an undisclosed injury.
‘The Great’ saw his title defence pushed back one month due to the withdrawal and ‘The Korean Zombie’ was announced has his next opponent.
The History Of Max Holloway & Alexander Volkanovski
Holloway and Volkanovski first fought in December 2019 at UFC 245.
The Aussie fighter scored a significant upset to dethrone Holloway, who was easily outpointed over five rounds. In July 2020, the featherweight duo rematched, and the fight was much closer. ‘Blessed’ was the winner on many people’s scorecards after five rounds but the judges awarded Volkanovski a split decision win.
Since then, Holloway has bounced back with decision wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Volkanovski survived a couple of scares to defend his belt against Brian Ortega.
Do you think Max Holloway should take an interim fight before facing the winner of the UFC 273 main event?