One of MMA’s most highly anticipated matchups possibly of all time was missed out on at UFC 226. But now it appears to be on for a new date.

Ar UFC 226, the featherweight crown was expected to be defended by the reigning champion Max Holloway as he was set to take on the blazing hot contender Brian Ortega in the co-main event.

Unfortunately, Holloway would be pulled from the fight by his team and the UFC after showing concussion-like symptoms. Obviously meaning it wouldn’t have been the wisest of choices to compete in a championship level fight let alone a fight at all.

However, things appear to be on the upswing for the Hawaiian as MMAJunkie is reporting that verbal agreements have been made between the two top featherweights for a new showdown date of December 8 in Toronto, Ontario for UFC 231.

2018 hasn’t been all too kind to the 26-year old champion Holloway as he has been scheduled to fight three separate times but hasn’t made it to any of them.

The first being for a March encounter with Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 that Holloway would be forced out of due to injury. Following that fight, the opportunity would open up for Holloway to take on Khabib Nurmagomedov at lightweight to try and win the title in that division. During the weigh-in process, the New York State Athletic Commission would end up cutting Holloway short for safety purposes resulting in him not competing once more.

Then, of course, there was UFC 226 most recently.

Both men are on phenomenal winning streaks. The challenger, Ortega is a perfect 14-0 in his professional MMA career while Holloway has won 12 straight in incredible fashion.

This matchup is as good as it gets as both fighters are two very young and talented athletes in their primes looking to prove supremacy. Here’s to hoping everything works out for Holloway this time around.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/25/2018