The name Max Holloway is not just any name. Talking about him means talking about one of the best in the history of the UFC. The 32-year-old fighter, who has a record of 26-7 (22-7 in the UFC), has been one of the most successful and beloved athletes of the American company. He became the undisputed featherweight champion (145 pounds, 65.7 kilos) in 2017 and, since 2019, Volkanovski has been the only one capable of defeating him. With the latter off the radar, his return to the throne of the category involves beating Ilia Topuria, this Saturday at UFC 308, which will be held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Max Holloway began his career within the largest mixed martial arts company in the world, the UFC, in February 2012. at the age of 21. In addition to his young age, his record is also surprising, as he only accumulated four professional wins. However, his debut was not what he dreamed of. In his first fight he did not have an easy opponent: he faced Dustin Poirier himself, and Holloway was submitted in the first round.
After this spectacular start, he achieved three consecutive victories. But the joy was fleeting, as he stumbled again against Dennis Bermúdez and Conor McGregor consecutively. However, from here began Holloway’s meteoric rise. He obtained nine victories in a row (finishing six of them), defeating names like Charles Oliveira or Ricardo Lamas. His achievements gave him the opportunity to compete for the interim featherweight belt against Anthony Pettis, whom he finished in a devastating manner in the third round by TKO.
As interim champion it was his turn to unify the title, and here came one of the milestones in his career. He became undisputed champion after finishing José Aldo in the third round, considered by many to be the best of all time at 145 pounds. Not satisfied with that, he did it again in the same way in his first defense. Max Holloway’s reign was a reality. After defending with Brian Ortega, he would fall again to Dustin Poirier in an attempt to be a double champion.
He returned to his division and defended against Frankie Edgar, but then a new challenger stood in the way. Alexander Volkanovski managed to beat the Hawaiian and steal the title. Additionally, he defeated Holloway in the rematch. Although it seemed like the beginning of the end, Blessed, as he is known, recovered, and put in two historic performances against Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodríguez, which earned him another fight with the champion. However, it fell again, this time clearly and overwhelmingly.
The rebirth of the ‘blessed’
But Holloway should never be considered dead. He cleaned up the division again with wins against Arnold Allen and Chan-sung Jung, but the distance with Volkanovski remained unbroken. Then came a performance that will go down in UFC history. He moved up to lightweight and dominated Justin Gaethje from start to finish. But the famous moment of the fight was the last moments of the fight. Max, with everything won, stood in the center to exchange, knocking out Gaethje at the last second, becoming the BMF (The Baddest Motherf*cker) champion.
Despite his legendary career, he will face what may be his most complicated duel: Ilia Topuria. This has been the executioner of former champion Alexander Volkanovski, who defeated the Hawaiian on the three occasions they faced each other. Now, and after six years in the shadow of Volkanovski, the Hawaiian once again has the opportunity to recover what was once his, and once again be the undisputed UFC featherweight monarch.
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