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Alex Volkanovski’s first featherweight title defense is slated to be in his home country of Australia.
Alex Volkanovski took the men’s featherweight title away from Max Holloway last December, now it looks like he must beat him again in order to remain champion.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Volkanovski vs. Holloway 2 is expected to serve as the main event for UFC 251 in Perth, Australia on June 6th (June 7th in Australia). Volkanovski is from Australia and should have raucous, partisan support if he indeed gets a home country title defense.
Volkanovski (21-1) has won 18 straight bouts, with eight of them coming under the UFC banner. On his way to becoming champion, the former rugby player notably beat former WEC and UFC champ Jose Aldo, as well as former title challenger Chad Mendes. Against Holloway, who had not lost at 145 lbs since 2013, he turned in a masterful performance and won a clear-cut decision over the Hawaiian at UFC 245 in December.
Holloway (21-5) has lost two out of his last three. Prior to the Volkanovski defeat, he did defend his belt successfully against Frankie Edgar, but preceding that was a thrilling decision loss to Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title last April. The 28-year-old had won 13 straight bouts before he fell to Poirier.
While Volkanovski vs. Holloway 2 is not official yet, we do know that women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is set to defend her title against Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood in the co-main event.