Former featherweight champion and current BMF title holder Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway suffered the first knockout loss of his professional career last night at UFC 308; starched by Ilia Topuria in the third round with a picture-perfect left hook.
Despite the brutal defeat to the Spanish-Georgian superstar, the ‘Blessed Express’ rolls on; with Max Holloway revealing his plans for what’s next at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference.
Max Holloway wants to make UFC return in Summer 2025, likely at lightweight
Taking to social media in the immediate aftermath of his title fight against Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway would acknowledge that “Sometimes you get an highlight then sometimes you’re the highlight.
“This is why MMA is the craziest sport in the world. Congrats to the El Matador. As to my family, friends and supporters, we good! The Blessed Express ain’t stopping here. We on our way to a new destination. Make sure you have your ticket, get excited. Thank you all for the love and support!”
Holloway will be taking some time away from the sport to rest and recover from what was the first KO loss of his professional career, but ‘Blessed’ already has a plan in mind as to when and where he’d like to make his UFC return.
“I mean, we’re going to sit down with the team and relax, there’s nothing needed to be rushing back right now, you know,” he stated to reporters at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference.
“I’ll probably try coming back in [next] Summer… [There’s a] big July card, right, in Las Vegas; do something [there], we’ll see what happens… I mean, 155 looks really good right now.”
Luckily, should Holloway return to lightweight for his next bout, there’s a Diamond of a trilogy just waiting to be made.
Max Holloway open to facing Dustin Poirier for The Diamond’s retirement fight
Former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier has recently stated that he’s targeting two more fights to round out his UFC tenure; with the goal to bow out in front of his home crowd in Louisiana.
Given how Poirier is currently up 2-0 against Max Holloway, it’s no surprise that ‘Blessed’ was asked about the possibility of a trilogy fight being put together for whenever he does make his return to the octagon.
“Ey, that’d be nice – The Diamond, sign me up bro,” Holloway stated to media members, teasing that he’d love to get at least one score on the board against the fan-favorite former champion.
“I love that guy; I got nothing but respect for the guy… But he is up 2-0 against my ass, and I don’t have the best luck against people who are 2-0 against me, so I guess I gotta try that one again.”
When asked whether that fight could involve the BMF title, albeit not the one that Topuria was carrying around post-308, Holloway simply said: “Ey, I like the way you think bro, the UFC needs to call your ass.”
Poirier himself was part of the ESPN broadcast for UFC 308, sharing that he was ‘blown away’ by Ilia Topuria’s performance in his first featherweight title defense.