Max Holloway has the chance to grab a second UFC title on April 13 when he faces Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 236, which takes place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
The winner of the rematch between the two will claim the interim lightweight title.
Holloway has held the undisputed featherweight title since he knocked out Jose Aldo at UFC 212 in July 2017. The 27-year-old has defended that title twice. He scored a TKO over Aldo in his first defense and then earned a doctor stoppage TKO win over Brian Ortega in his most recent title defense. The victory over Ortega was Holloway’s 13th straight win. His most recent defeat was an August 2013 decision setback to Conor McGregor.
Poirier began his UFC career at featherweight but moved back to lightweight in 2015. The 30-year-old has gone 8-1-0-1 since then. He’s currently riding a three-fight winning streak, with each of those victories coming by way of TKO.
Holloway and Poirier first met in February 2012. At the time, Holloway was a 20-year-old fighter who had just four fights and 17 months of pro experience. By contrast, the 23-year-old Poirier had an 11-1 record at that time. Poirier moved his record to 12-1 with a first-round submission win over Holloway in the featherweight contest.
Current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is serving a nine-month suspension for his role in the post-fight brawl that broke out after he submitted Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 229. Nurmagomedov is eligible to return on July 6 but has said that he plans to sit out until November. With that knowledge, the UFC deemed an interim title a necessity.
The early odds for the headlining bout of UFC 236 favor the younger fighter, even though he has never competed at 155 pounds under the UFC banner. Holloway is a -280 favorite over Poirier who comes in at a +200 underdog.
UFC 236 also features a middleweight interim title fight between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya. That bout serves as the card’s co-main event.
