UFC 272: Max Holloway pulls out of Alexander Volkanovski rematch 2 days after fight announcement
The UFC's plans for UFC 272 lasted about two days.
Former featherweight champion Max Holloway pulled out of his title rematch against current champ Alexander Volkanovski after aggravating an injury Thursday, according to ESPN's Brett Okamoto.
Dana White announced the Volkanovski-Holloway fight on Tuesday, setting up a trilogy. In the two previous bouts, Volkanovski won a unanimous decision and split decision.
Volkanovski is currently the promotion's No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter.
Since his second loss, Holloway has defeated Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez to stay on top of the contenders.
A rematch between current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and former champ Petr Yan now sits as the lone title fight on the UFC 272 card, at least for now.
Alexander Volkanovski wants Chan Sung Jung as fill-in opponent
Soon after news broke of Holloway's injury, there was no shortage of UFC featherweights shooting their shot for a chance to fight Volkanovski.
The Nos. 3, 4, 6, 8 and 11 fighters in UFC's featherweight rankings all indicated they were interested in stepping in for Holloway, as did former champion Henry Cejudo, who has been retired since May 2020.
Triple C to the rescue. @danawhite you have my number. 🏆🏆🏆🏆 #C4 #bendtheknee https://t.co/Jkppjffm12 pic.twitter.com/CWkSzyNezf
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) January 7, 2022
"The Korean Zombie" is raising his hand to step in for Max Holloway and challenge Alexander Volkanovski at #UFC272, his manager @JasonKHouse tells me. TKZ is 3-1 in his most recent four.🧟♂️ https://t.co/CfbC6OEQbe
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) January 7, 2022
Waiting on the call…
— JOSH EMMETT (@JoshEmmettUFC) January 7, 2022
👀🥷🏼@ufc @danawhite @seanshelby @AliAbdelaziz00
— GIGA CHIKADZE (@giga_chikadze) January 7, 2022
👋🏻
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) January 7, 2022
With those options all available, Volkanovski appeared to make his choice: No. 4 ranked Chan Sung Jung. According to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani, both fighters have verbally agreed to a fight, but need to fill out the paperwork.
@KoreanZombieMMA Let’s do this!! #UFC272
— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) January 7, 2022