Alexander Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3 on deck for International Fight Week

Another chapter in the story of UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway is set to be written this summer.

The third fight between the new champion and the former champion is being targeted for the biggest week in fighting, International Fight Week. The bout was first reported by Ariel Helwani. The date of this scheduled bout is July 2 in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Holloway as the next challenger for Volkanovski is the logical choice after the champ’s most recent title defense. The two were originally set to meet back at UFC 272, but Holloway pulled out with an injury. He was later replaced by Chan Sung Jung, whom Volkanovski defeated at UFC 273 by way of fourth-round TKO. Now that Holloway is healed up, him sliding back into the title contention slot makes sense.

Even though Holloway seems to be the likely candidate for challenger, these two men have faced off twice before, with Volkanovski being the victor both times. The first meeting was at UFC 245 and Volkanovski won via unanimous decision, taking the belt in his win. The second was an immediate rematch and this time Alexander “The Great” defended his title by split decision.

Following the back-to-back losses to Volkanovski, Holoway has put in the work to get himself back in the win column. he now has two wins since losing his belt, both unanimous victories over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. In fact, his only two losses at featherweight in the last eight years were the two to the new champ.

This event is still in construction but the fights confirmed so far are as follows: