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Anthony Pettis vs. Max Holloway added to UFC 206

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

Major improvements are still being made to UFC 206 — like this one.

Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will meet Max Holloway in a high-level featherweight contender matchup at UFC 206 on Dec. 10 in Toronto, TSN reported Wednesday. The UFC confirmed the fight on its website, along with another bout between Mitch Gagnon and Matthew Lopez.

Pettis (19-5) is coming off a third-round submission win over Charles Oliveira at UFC on FOX 21 in August. Before that, "Showtime" had lost three straight at lightweight and decided to move down to featherweight. Pettis, 29, held the UFC lightweight title from 2013 to 2015, when he dropped the belt to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185.

Holloway (16-3) is one of the hottest fighters in the world. The Hawaiian has won nine straight bouts, including a unanimous decision victory over Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199 in June. Holloway, still just 24 years old, has not lost since falling to Conor McGregor in 2013 and has more than deserved a 145-pound title shot.

Gagnon (12-3), a Canadian, has not fought since a third-round submission loss to Renan Barao in December 2014. He won four straight before that. Lopez (8-1) is coming off a third-round submission loss to Rani Yahya in July, the first defeat of his career. That was his UFC debut.

UFC 206 is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Daniel Cormier and challenger Anthony Johnson. No co-main event has been made official. A middleweight title fight between champion Michael Bisping and returning legend Georges St-Pierre has been discussed, but seems doubtful at this point, per UFC president Dana White.

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