UFC 222: Holloway vs. Edgar cancelled, Champ speaks out on injury

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Bengaluru, February 4: Max Holloway has been forced to withdraw from his featherweight title defense against Frankie Edgar in the main event of UFC 222 on March 3 in Las Vegas due to injury, according to reports from ESPN.

The reports were later confirmed by MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani on Saturday (February 3). Sources told Helwani that Holloway sustained a leg injury in training, leading to the withdrawal.

This will be the second time that the bout between Holloway and Edgar has been cancelled. Last year in December, Holloway was scheduled to defend the belt against the former lightweight champ at UFC 218, but an injury forced Edgar to pull out.

As a result Holloway met Jose Aldo in the main event of that card, in a rematch of their UFC 212 fight from June in which he successfully defended the title via third-round TKO.

Meanwhile, Edgar is on a two-fight winning streak which helped him earn another shot at the featherweight gold. His most recent outing was a second-round TKO of Yair Rodriguez at UFC 211 in May.

The co-main event of UFC 222, as it stands now, is a heavyweight fight between Stefan Struve and Andrei Arlovski.

The UFC is trying to find a new main event to replace the cancelled bout.

The champ Holloway took to Twitter later that day to confirm the news:

"I asked the [doctors] if we could cut off my leg, then ask the commission if I could fight handicapped," Holloway wrote. "They told me at the end of the day, it is what it is."

He also added that he hopes to reschedule the fight with Edgar as soon as possible. Since making his UFC debut in February 2012, the 26-year-old Holloway had never withdrawn from a bout before this incident.

Source: MMAFighting