Max Holloway had one other excellent evening on the workplace, however that doesn’t imply he’s absolutely happy with the way it ended.
“Blessed” threw down with longtime rival Dustin Poirier for a 3rd time in the principle occasion of UFC 318 and never solely did he ship Poirier into retirement in type, he additionally lastly scored a win of their three-fight sequence. The dramatic battle gave the impression to be a shoo-in for Saturday’s Combat of the Evening award, however that bonus cash as an alternative went to a preliminary struggle between Brendan Allen and Marvin Vettori.
Suffice to say, Holloway desires solutions from UFC CEO Dana White for the perceived snub.
“I imply, he can nonetheless crack,” Holloway stated of his final struggle with Poirier. “He nonetheless hits onerous as shit. You noticed what occurred in that third spherical. Even the primary spherical, too, I used to be like, oh yeah, I received him. After which I used to be like, what the hell, bro? This man saved coming again. I saved forgetting that is his retirement struggle, his identify’s the diamond, so I’m completely happy we received to present the man the five-round warfare.
“I hope you guys gave shit to Dana. How the hell did we not get Combat of the Evening? What’s he considering? Come on, Dana.”
Jokes apart, Holloway has blended emotions about once more being referred to as upon to close the door on a fellow legend’s profession. In 2023, Holloway was the ultimate opponent for South Korean star Chan Sung Jung a.okay.a. “The Korean Zombie” and he gained that struggle as properly, flattening Jung for a brutal knockout within the third spherical.
Holloway shared his appreciation for Poirier and Jung, two fighters he’ll eternally be related to.
“I’m fairly completely happy,” Holloway stated. “Like I stated, although, it sucks, I got here in right here to be spoiler, that’s what I’m going to do, however it sucks to do it towards a person like him. I needed to do it towards Korean Zombie and now I do it towards Dustin. These guys are simply nice individuals. Neglect what they did within the struggle recreation, they’re simply nice human beings. They’re simply nice individuals and I’ve received nothing however love and respect for him and what he did. He’s a ‘BMF’ in each sense of the phrase.
“He was up 2-0, performed, gave me the chance to get him again within the final struggle, that’s what BMFs do. And he received to stroll out with ‘Weezy’ [Lil Wayne]. He received Weezy to place the belt on us, in order that’s fairly superb.”
Holloway has now gained two straight fights at 155 kilos. At UFC 300 in April 2024, Holloway scored an unbelievable last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje to win the “BMF” belt, then parlayed that spotlight right into a shot at then-featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. Sadly for Holloway, he ended up struggling the primary knockout lack of his profession when he challenged Topuria at UFC 308.
Now, Topuria holds the UFC light-weight title after not too long ago defeating Charles Oliveira for a vacant belt, and Holloway sees a path the place he may rematch Topuria ahead of anticipated.
“I’ve been telling you guys all week, this sport is about having moments,” Holloway stated. “I’m glad I went right here, I did this second, and we’ll see what occurs. If it’s Ilia, the ball is within the UFC’s courtroom. I’m down for no matter. If it’s Ilia, it’s Ilia. If it’s the man that he simply beat, Oliveira, I’ve historical past with him. The entire high 10, there’s lots of enjoyable fights for me right here at light-weight and I’m excited.”
