Israel Adesanya's next title defence, Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway trilogy title fight confirmed for UFC 276

Joshua Mayne

Liam O'Loughlin

Israel Adesanya's next title defence, Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway trilogy title fight confirmed for UFC 276 image

A trilogy bout between UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (24-1) and former champ Max Holloway (23-6) is set for July 2, 2022.

The pair will fight in the co-main event at the pay-per-view UFC 276 event in Las Vegas, which will be headlined by Israel Adesanya defending his middleweight title against Jared Cannonier. 

Adesanya (22-1) has lost just one fight during his UFC career when he attempted to claim the light heavyweight title in early 2021. 

His clash with Cannonier (15-5) comes after the Texan native earned 'Performance of the Night' honours following his victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 271. Cannonier has won five of his last six fights, with his only defeat in that period coming at the hands of former champion, Robert Whittaker.  

Volkanovski and Holloway had originally planned their trilogy fight for March this year, before Holloway unfortunately was forced to withdraw due to injury.

The 33-year-old Volkanovski reigned supreme in their previous two bouts - winning via unanimous decision in 2019 and split decision in 2020.

The Australian is also coming off a fourth-round TKO win over 'The Korean Zombie' Chan Sung Jung in April and has been undefeated since 2013.

As for Holloway, he has the chance the reclaim the featherweight belt that he held between 2017 and 2019 following recent victories over Yair Rodríguez and Calvin Kattar.

Also announced for the UFC 276 card is Sean Strickland vs Alex Pereira and Miesha Tate vs Lauren Murphy. 

Joshua Mayne

Joshua Mayne Photo

Joshua Mayne is a content producer for The Sporting News Australia based in Sydney, Australia. He has previously worked as a newsreader at 2SER and journalist at Ministry of Sport. While Joshua’s main passions are football, rugby league, basketball and F1, he will watch any sport that's on. He is still waiting for Arsenal to win the Premier League again. 

 

Liam O'Loughlin

Liam O'Loughlin Photo

Liam has been with The Sporting News since 2019, helping lead both NRL and cricket content, as well as delving into the world of combat sports and NFL. A true rugby league tragic, he has spent the past 20 years playing, coaching and volunteering for his beloved junior club, Penshurst RSL. 

Away from work, Liam has a lifelong passion for all things pro wrestling and has travelled abroad to attend showcase events for WWE, AEW and NJPW.