Informed sources close to the situation say that Max Holloway and Elijah Topuria will play for the interim title on Jan. 20 at UFC 297 in Toronto, if the Australian fighter doesn’t have three months after his superfight with Islam Makhachev to prepare for a defense of the current belt he holds.
The main event of the Canadian numbered event was originally scheduled to be a title fight between Volkanovski and Topuria.
Earlier, UFC head honcho Dana White officially announced that Alex Volkanovski has agreed on short notice to replace the dissected Charles Oliveira and face Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 294, which takes place on October 21 in Abu Dhabi.
In July, Volkanovski won a unification bout with an early split decision over Yair Rodriguez to win the interim featherweight belt on the same day that the Australian made a failed attempt to take the UFC lightweight title from Makhachev.
Max Holloway and Elijah Topuria are currently ranked No. 1 and No. 5 in the UFC’s featherweight division rankings, respectively.