Although it may seem as though Max Holloway is in a tough position ahead of his UFC 318 fight, he believes things have worked out exactly in his favor.
On July 19, Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier will clash for the BMF title in the UFC 318 main event as the promotion returns to New Orleans for Poirier’s last dance.
Ahead of their trilogy fight, Holloway has declared that he must win as he doesn’t want to make an unwanted piece of UFC history by losing both trilogies he has been involved in.
Not only that but ahead of his BMF title defence, Holloway has made a request to the UFC that he is removed from the featherweight rankings, as he is still bizarrely ranked number one.
Holloway explains why he was ‘the happiest man alive’ when Topuria won lightweight title
Holloway’s fight against ‘The Diamond’ will mark his first fight since suffering the first KO loss of his career when he fought Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 last year.
Since then, Topuria has proved his star power and continued to showcase why he is the biggest draw in the sport currently, knocking out Charles Oliveira a few weeks ago at UFC 317 to become the new lightweight champion.
Although a large majority of the UFC fanbase assumed that ‘Blessed’ would’ve been disappointed to see ‘El Matador’ move up to lightweight and win the title, he has explained why he is of the opposite opinion.
“(How a fight would go between us at 155lbs?) we’ll just have to find out, right?” Holloway told MMAJunkie.
“A 155lb fight? We’re just gonna have to find out. First things first, I was over the moon, a lot of people thought I’d be like ‘Oh my god, what the hell, why is he coming to 155lbs?’ I was over the moon when he announced he’s coming to 155lbs.
“And then when I found out he got the title shot, I was like ‘Oh my gosh’. Even the title shot with both of them, when they announced Oliveira and Topuria for the title shot, I think I was the happiest man alive because I have history with two guys.
“I know (Ilia) likes walking around with a BMF title but if he wants an authentic one he knows where to find me,” Holloway continued.
Charles Oliveira calls for a fight against Max Holloway
And now just a few weeks removed from his loss to ‘El Matador’, Oliveira has now revealed that he is looking to return to the Octagon in November and has highlighted Holloway as his ideal next opponent.
The two first met back in 2015 and Oliveira was labeled a ‘quitter’ for quitting the fight due to an injury.