Max Holloway is in a bit of a bind. Not only is the UFC’s featherweight title in seemingly perpetual limbo – around the waist of the now hiatus-ing lightweight champion – but the chances of fighting for an interim belt seem pretty slim as well. After all, the UFC already handed one out, when Jose Aldo rematched Frankie Edgar at UFC 200.
The problem for Holloway is that Aldo doesn’t seem all that interested in fighting him, or fighting at all for that matter. Instead the interim champ has been looking for a way out of his UFC contract. For a fighter who is very clearly the no. 1 contender in his division, there’s no clear way forward.
On a recent episode of Sirius XM Rush’s Toe-2-Toe, Holloway spoke about his upcoming bout with Anthony Pettis, and what he hopes will come afterward (transcript via MMA Fighting):
“After this fight everything to my agenda is let me know if Aldo found that f**king vaccine for that f**king pussy-itis he got. That motherf**ker been running. So tell him he can’t run for much longer. Tell him a Hawaiian is coming and I’m creeping. Tell him to be ready.”
And while he could be campaigning for a bout with Conor McGregor, Holloway realizes that at this point, that’s not a very realistic option. “That’d be f**kin’ wild,” Holloway said of a McGregor bout, “if the UFC let me pass the interim title to fight for the real belt. I’m just being realistic, that’s why I’m saying Aldo.”
But even if the Aldo fight doesn’t materialize, it doesn’t sound like Holloway is too broken up about the lack of chances to get a UFC title around his waist:
“I have no control over it so why cry over spilled milk? You spill milk, are you gonna try and mop it up and squeeze the mop back into the carton? No, you mop that s**t up and you move on. I’m not gonna cry about something I have no control over. It is what it is. I’m gonna keep showing the world what I deserve…and they can’t be denying me for much longer. All I have to do is keeping on focusing on what Max Holloway does and that’s winning and winning fashionably.”
…
“I ain’t making no excuses. Everybody is like, ‘oh you deserve a title shot, you should wait.’ If you’re waiting then you don’t believe you’re the best guy in the world. I believe I’m the best guy in the world. Pettis has a lot of value to his name. He’s a former champion. Motherf**ker’s on a Wheaties box so that’s pretty big. He has a huge name and I look forward to the challenge.”
Holloway’s next chance to hit the octagonal runway is at UFC 206 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There he’ll take on former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis in the co-main event. A light heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson is expected to headline. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates as the event approaches.
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