Following his UFC 308 loss against Ilia Topuria, BMF champion Max Holloway has reflected on his journey at featherweight, announcing a new plan.
Despite only being 32 years old, Max Holloway‘s journey in the UFC has been an extremely long and fruitful one, and it saw him conquer the featherweight division in 2017.
‘Blessed’ had several incredible rivalries with the likes of Alexander Volkanovski and Jose Aldo, and will go down as one of the greatest featherweight fighters ever.
Max Holloway announces his permanent move up to the lightweight division
Following the first knockout loss of his career this past Saturday at UFC 308 against Ilia Topuria, Holloway has announced that he will no longer be fighting at 145lbs and will finally make his permanent move up to lightweight.
After losses to Volkanovski, Holloway had to rework his way back up to title contention in the featherweight division, beating Arnold Allen and Chan Sung Jung at 145lbs.
With miles now on the clock, ‘Blessed’ has made the decision to put the tough weight cut behind him in an attempt to prolong his career.
“This is like my phoenix moment, from the ashes we’re reborn. We’re on to bigger, better stuff and walking through a new door starting a new chapter,” Holloway announced in a video on his YouTube channel.
“I’m a big believer in never say never, and the big question now is, ‘Was that your last fight at 145?’ You guys saw me touch on it in the press conference, and I can honestly say I think I’m done with 145. Your boy is getting older. I turn 33. This cut – no excuses. This cut was easy, bro. Shout out to my wife. They helped make this cut really easy, but it takes a tole cutting weight, period. No matter what weight you are.
“I had to give up ramen for my ’45 camps. So I’m done with that. 155 here we come and 155 is where I want to stay. This is a new chapter,” the former featherweight champion continued.
- JONES RETIREMENT: Daniel Cormier makes surprising admission about Jon Jones’ retirement after bitter decade-long feud… ‘It will suck’
Potential matchups for Max Holloway at lightweight
Of course, Holloway’s BMF title fight win against Justin Gaethje came at lightweight, and it put him in the 155lb rankings at number five, putting him straight into the title picture.
Holloway has also previously fought title challenger Dustin Poirier for the interim title, coming up short. A rematch between the two for the BMF title has potential, especially considering Poirier will likely only have one more fight before retirement.
There have been previous calls from ‘The Diamond’ for a BMF tournament, something which UFC CEO Dana White seemed to like the idea of. With Holloway now out of the picture at featherweight and firmly dedicating himself to 155lbs, the idea could really pick up some steam.
Despite only one recent fight at lightweight, Holloway seemingly isn’t far off an undisputed title shot against Islam Makhachev, with the Russian champion having previously talked about the potential fight against ‘Blessed’.
- CREDENTIALS CRITICISED: ‘He talks too much’… Cristiano Ronaldo questioned Ilia Topuria’s championship credentials before Max Holloway KO at UFC 308