The first defense of Max Holloway's UFC featherweight tile reign will take place at UFC 218 in Detroit when he faces former 155-pound champion Frankie Edgar.  UFC confirmed the news to ESPN on Tuesday after the marquee bout was added to the Dec. 2 pay-per-view card at Little Caesars Arena.

Holloway (18-3) appears on the verge of possible stardom fresh off his third-round TKO of two-time champion Jose Aldo in Brazil at UFC 212 in June. The 25-year-old native of Hawaii is riding an 11-fight win streak that dates back to his 2013 loss to Conor McGregor. 

Edgar (22-5-1) held the UFC's lightweight championship for nearly two years before losing to Benson Henderson in 2012. He rebounded by reinventing himself as a featherweight and has twice unsuccessfully challenged for a piece of the 145-pound title, losing both times to Aldo. 

A victory would move Edgar, 33, into elite company, as he would join Randy Couture, BJ Penn and Conor McGregor as the only UFC fighters to win championships in multiple divisions. Edgar bounced back from the second Aldo loss over the past year to record impressive victories over Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez. 

The title fight should offer a fast pace and plenty of action between the aggressive Holloway and the cerebral yet exciting Edgar, who is no stranger to bouncing back from adversity to win a fight. Holloway's straight-ahead style of pressing the action offensively should be complimented well by Edgar's counter boxing and preference to shoot for takedowns. 

The UFC 218 co-main event was previously announced between heavyweights Alistair Overeem (43-15) and Francis Ngannou (10-1).

McGregor (21-3), a former featherweight champion who was forced by UFC to give up his 145-pound belt after he captured the lightweight crown, has never defended either of his UFC titles. Last Friday, during a public appearance in Glascow, Scotland, McGregor brought up his three-round decision victory over Holloway by saying, "I sonned that young boy." 

The brash Irishman, 29, eventually went on to praise Holloway. 

"I'm not mad at him," McGregor said. "He has done a great job. He has climbed up and claimed that featherweight belt. You see some fights, and so do the public, you see him go in there and you watch him win or lose and you watch how they act and how they carry on.

"He lost to me and he took it on the chin, he kept his mind frame sharp. You're gonna win some, you're gonna lose some. Get back on your bike, study the game a bit more, put in that extra bit of work and correct those errors that you've seen. That's what I'm doing. That's what I've seen [Holloway] doing. He went on to capture the unified belt off of Aldo, even though I beat both of them."

McGregor, who is fresh off his pro boxing debut in a 10th-round TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather in August, isn't sure when he'll return to the Octagon, but he didn't rule out a rematch with Holloway at lightweight.

"If he wants to come up, then maybe. We'll figure it out," McGregor said. "That's another option, but it's a low down the totem pole option."