Frankie Edgar injured, out of Max Holloway fight at UFC 218

The injury bug has bitten one of the year’s most anticipated fights.

Frankie Edgar has been forced to withdraw from his Dec. 2 title challenge against UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway at UFC 218 after suffering an undisclosed injury. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani confirmed the news Wednesday following an initial report by Combate.

According to sources, Edgar suffered the injury earlier this week. He does not need surgery and will be ready to fight again in 12 weeks.

Holloway (18-3) was looking to continue his historic run after winning 11 consecutive fights — a run which culminated in a third-round TKO of legendary featherweight champion Jose Aldo in June. Over the course of his rise to gold, “Blessed” has bested a slew of big names, highlighted by victories over Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas, Cub Swanson, Jeremy Stephens, and Charles Oliveira, to name a few.

Hours before the news of Edgar’s injury broke, Holloway expressed his frustration with an ominous Instagram post.

At the time of this writing, it is unclear whether Holloway will remain on UFC 218, although the featherweight champion hopes to do so.

Edgar went on Instagram recently to post a statement.

A logical replacement would be Cub Swanson, who’s won his last four in a row. However, Swanson currently has one fight left on his contract and is scheduled to headline UFC Fresno on Dec. 9 versus Brian Ortega.

“We would have to come to terms on a new deal,” Swanson told MMAFighting.com. "I’m willing.”

Former UFC champion Jose Aldo has also made it clear he’s game for a rematch.

Edgar (22-5-1), meanwhile, had won seven of his last eight fights, including two straight against Stephens and Yair Rodriguez. A former lightweight champion, Edgar was vying to become only the fifth man in UFC history to hold titles in two different divisions.

UFC 218 takes place at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. An updated fight card can be seen below.

Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Max Holloway vs. TBD
Alistair Overeem vs. Francis Ngannou
Henry Cejudo vs. Sergio Pettis
Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje
Tecia Torres vs. Michelle Waterson

Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
Paul Felder vs. Charles Oliveira
Alex Oliveira vs. Yancy Medeiros
Drakkar Klose vs. David Teymur
Felice Herrig vs. Cortney Casey

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Sabah Homasi
Jeremy Kimball vs. Dominick Reyes
Allen Crowder vs. Justin Willis
Amanda Cooper vs. Angela Magana