Jump to:
Max Holloway has turned away his fair share of up-and-coming contenders. When the former UFC featherweight champion suffered back-to-back losses to Alexander Volkanovski, he was fine with fighting his way into contention again.
First came Calvin Kattar, the New England Cartel name who was hoping to cement himself among the elite of the division with a win over Holloway. In one of the worst one-sided fights in UFC history, ‘Blessed’ battered Kattar, shattering eight UFC records in 25 minutes. Then came Yair Rodríguez, the flashy, yet effective fighter with an unorthodox approach that is difficult to prepare for. Holloway shut ‘El Pantera’ down, too. Those wins against Kattar and Rodríguez led to a trilogy with Volkanovski.
The ‘Great’ dominated Holloway, improving to 3-0 against his former foe at UFC 276 this past July. And though a third loss could have spelled doom for his championship aspirations, it did the opposite. Nearly a year later, Holloway returned, doing what he needed to do for a potential fourth fight against Volkanovski: turning away another up-and-coming contender.
Max Holloway returns, defeats Arnold Allen
This past Saturday, Holloway handed Arnold Allen his first UFC loss — a unanimous decision — following their all-action affair at UFC Kansas City. For the former champion, the performance was yet another reminder that he is ‘still here,’ despite some people believing otherwise.
“You’re only as good as your last fight and I told you guys I had that [third Alexander Volkanovski] fight, that was the last taste that they had of me,” said Holloway during his post-fight press conference (video provided by MMA Junkie). “It is what it is. I was here with that Kattar fight, I heard the same thing all over again — that Arnold’s going to be the guy who’s going to break my chin, who’s going to put [me] out, too slow, too old, whatever it is.
“We went out there, we got to prove it,” continued Holloway. “I wanted to go out there and hit and not get hit. Me and my boy have been vibing out to some Roy Jones Jr., Body Head Bangerz — we got to go out there looking good doing it.”
Max Holloway discusses his next options
The win against Allen has potentially moved Holloway closer to another championship opportunity. Of course, that would have to wait as Volkanovski has his next defense set — a title unification against Rodríguez at UFC 290, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for July 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
However, if the winner of Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez is not his next fight, then Holloway says he wants to face a fellow UFC veteran instead.
“‘Korean Zombie’ [Chan Sung Jung], that is the only guy in my time with the older guys that I didn’t get to fight,” said Holloway. “I would love that fight. There’s a fight in my agent’s freaking country, Australia. Australia is supposed to be happening sometime. We don’t know when. And if ‘Korean Zombie’ wants it, he can get it. I would love to fight him. That’s one of the guys I’ve been growing up and watching.
“I’m kind of tripping out, how didn’t we fight yet? How did we not fight?,” continued Holloway. “If that’s one of the guys, then that’s one of the guys. I’d love to fight and share the Octagon with him. He’s one of the OGs that I didn’t get to fight yet. We came up in the same era and we didn’t fight each other, so if that’s it, that’s it.”
Where is ‘The Korean Zombie’?
Jung has not fought since his lopsided loss to Volkanovski at UFC 273 a year ago. The ‘Korean Zombie’ hinted at retirement but opted against it for a fight that was expected to spearhead UFC Seoul — a Fight Night that was canceled after Jung suffered a shoulder injury.
The UFC veteran has stayed on the sidelines since then.
About the author
