Max Holloway Title Defense vs. Frankie Edgar Targeted for UFC 240 in Edmonton

Frankie Edgar, not Alexander Volkanovski, will receive the next featherweight shot against reigning champion Max Holloway.

Holloway and Edgar have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 240 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on July 27. The promotion is close to finalizing the 145-pound title bout, which will take place on the pay-per-view portion of the card at Rogers Place. ESPN.com was first to report the matchup.

Holloway and Edgar were initially booked at UFC 218 in December 2017, but “The Answer” was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. The bout was rescheduled for UFC 222 in March 2018, but this time Holloway pulled out of the fight. Edgar remained on the card to face Brian Ortega in a title eliminator bout, losing via first-round knockout. According to ESPN, Edgar was rewarded by the promotion for his willingness to face Ortega on short notice after Holloway’s injury.

One of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, Holloway saw a 13-fight winning streak come to an end when he moved up to face Dustin Poirier for interim 155-pound gold at UFC 236. “Blessed” lost a five-round unanimous verdict to Poirier and will return to featherweight, where his last title defense came in the form of a fourth-round TKO of Ortega at UFC 231.

Edgar, meanwhile, rebounded from the loss to Ortega to outpoint Cub Swanson in a rematch at UFC Fight Night 128 in April 2018. The former lightweight champion has won three of his last four Octagon appearances, also posting wins over Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens.