Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez is officially on the books. This past Thursday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced the tantalizing featherweight showdown as the main event for its July 17 card in Last Vegas.
After fans’ immediate excitement subsided, the very real thought that the bout could somehow disintegrate led to the classic, contemporary cries of “Put it in bubble wrap!”. Obviously, it’s a cute turn of phrase MMA folk now use to reference the often star-crossed circumstances of certain fights, leading to their dissolution due to injury, drug test failure or more recently, COVID-19. That said, is there anything the UFC can realistically do to protect its July 17 headliner?