Max Holloway has drawn a difficult task for his next fight at UFC 318.
His legend status is what put him in position to be Dustin Poirier’s last opponent inside the Octagon in the first place.
The two men also have history with one another, with Poirier welcoming Holloway to the promotion at UFC 143 before they met in an epic rematch in 2019.
While ‘Blessed’ will be heading into New Orleans as the bad guy, he’s embracing the role of spoiler even if he has a lot of respect for ‘The Diamond’.
His motivation to end Poirier’s career on a loss comes from their previous history and how the result could impact his own legacy, as well as his opponent’s.
Max Holloway is motivated for UFC 318 by not going 0-3 in two trilogies
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Max Holloway was asked whether being the first man to successfully defend the BMF title is something that motivates him ahead of this fight.
‘Blessed’ responded and said that while this hasn’t factored into his mindset, there is a historic fact hanging over this matchup that has.
Following UFC 318, Dustin Poirier won’t be the only opponent that Holloway has faced on three occasions.
He also competed in a trilogy of fights with Alexander Volkanovski while the two men were clearly the two best featherweights on the planet.
While some dispute the result of their second fight in particular, Volkanovski got his hand raised in all three of their encounters.
Having already been beaten by Poirier on two occasions, Holloway is motivated by the thought of potentially ending his career without recording a win in two iconic trilogies, which doesn’t do his incredible career justice.
“You know, it is what it is. It’s another fight. I’m f—— 0-3 in one trilogy. I’m not trying to be 0-3 in two trilogies so that’s the main thing going through my mind right now. At the end of the day, the BMF title is cool and everything and making history is great but the main history I’m not trying to make is to be a man who fought two different trilogies and went 0-3… I know it’s his last dance but I gotta play the spoiler here, I need this one.”
Max Holloway believes there’s only one way that he can even the score to round out the trilogy
While Max Holloway can’t come out on top in this trilogy following his two prior losses to Dustin Poirier, there is certainly a way that he can close it out in style.
Despite their second bout being an incredible back and forth UFC title fight, neither man has recorded a KO or TKO victory over the other.
A win is obviously the most important thing but Holloway is hopeful that he can produce the finish to make this third fight as decisive as the first where Poirier got the submission victory.
“The only right way to get a trilogy done with me and him is first one, he got the sub. Second one, he won a decision so let’s figure out this trilogy. Let’s hopefully get a KO in this one with me being on the winning side. That would be cool.”