Max Holloway further strengthened his case for a trilogy bout against reigning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski with a memorable performance in the UFC Fight Night 197 headliner on Saturday night.
Holloway emerged with a hard-fought five-round verdict over the returning Yair Rodriguez on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for his second consecutive triumph. The Hawaiian standout shook off a strong start from Rodriguez — including numerous damaging low kicks — to gradually impose his will through multi-punch combinations, takedowns and clinch work. Rodriguez gave one final push in the fifth round, but it wasn’t enough to sway the scorecards in his favor.