If you’re Max Holloway, the problem with finding a new featherweight to fight is that you’ve already fought most of them.

If you’re the UFC, the problem is finding one that’s bankable as a pay-per-view attraction.

At one point, tough journeyman Darren Elkins (23-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) was considered to replace ex-champ Frankie Edgar (22-5-1 MMA, 16-5-1 UFC) in the headliner of UFC 218. That idea didn’t go very far, though.

“The UFC wasn’t too excited about that,” Holloway’s longtime manager Brian Butler told MMAjunkie Radio.

Ultimately, the promotion decided on an immediate rematch with ex-champ Jose Aldo(26-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) as the best candidate for current titleholder Holloway (18-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) at the pay-per-view event, which takes place Saturday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and airs on pay-per-view, FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

But in the frantic search for a replacement, the champ and his reps cast a wide net for a replacement.

“(Holloway) said he would fight (UFC interim lightweight champ Tony) Ferguson, he talked about (Donald) ‘Cowboy’ (Cerrone), going up to 155 (pounds) and doing whatever,” Butler said. “We thought that we were going to get Cub (Swanson), but it ended up being Aldo.”

The decision puts Holloway in a do-over situation just six months after he took the belt from Aldo, unifying the title and earning his 11th straight win. Despite the circumstances, Butler said there was no hesitation from his charge when the switch was finalized.

“Max just calmly said, ‘It is what it is, and let’s do it,'” Butler said. “He signed the bout contract within minutes.”

Originally, Holloway had looked forward to a showdown with Edgar, a former lightweight champion and perennial contender at 145 pounds. Then, an injury forced his withdrawal and left the promotion scrambling.

The length of Holloway’s current streak and his UFC tenure has made it tough to get new looks inside the octagon, Butler said. But it’s also given the promotion few options for bankable opponents.

“When Max won the belt, he did it in a way that he cleaned out the division on his way to it,” Butler said. “He didn’t jump the line or skip around, so there wasn’t a lot of people left to fight.

“In order to fight somebody in the top-10 that we hadn’t already fought, Max would have to go all the way back to No. 9, which I believe was Elkins, and that didn’t look like it was going to be a headliner type of fight.”

Butler favored a rematch with Swanson (25-7 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who’s won his past four inside the octagon and gave Holloway a run for his money two years prior. But Swanson is already booked next month opposite Brian Ortega (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 123.

“At the end of the day, (UFC President) Dana (White) decided it was Aldo, and Max was not really balking at it, so it is what it is, as Max said,” Butler said.

The important thing to Holloway, Butler said, is that he’s going to get a fight. It’s not about the opponent, but the challenge in the octagon.

For more on UFC 218, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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