Dana White says UFC targeting Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez as Nov. 13 main event

The UFC is closing in on a date for the postponed Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez bout.

According to promotion president Dana White, the featherweight contenders will fight Nov. 13 at a location and venue to-be-announced, pending bout finalization. White mentioned the targeted booking in an interview Tuesday with TSN. If finalized, the fight is expected to headline the event.

Initially, Holloway (22-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC) vs. Rodriguez (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) was scheduled to take place July 17 in Las Vegas. However, the fight was pulled from the card after Holloway suffered an undisclosed injury.

Holloway, 29, will enter the fight off of a historic striking performance against Calvin Kattar, which he won via unanimous decision in January. The fight returned Holloway into the win column after back-to-back title fight losses to UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Rodriguez, 28, hasn’t competed since an October 2019 “Fight of the Night” bonus-earning victory over Jeremy Stephens. Since his 2017 loss to Frankie Edgar, Mexico’s Rodriguez has gone 2-0 with wins over Stephens and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, as well as one no contest against Stephens due to an eye poke.

With the addition, the Nov. 13 lineup includes:

• Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez
• Philipe Lins vs. Ovince Saint Preux