Max Holloway Reveals Interest In Title Showdown With Islam Makhachev

BMF champion Max Holloway has revealed that he’d be interested in a lightweight title showdown with Islam Makhachev.

This weekend, Max Holloway faces a huge test in the form of Ilia Topuria. He will be challenging for the UFC featherweight championship in the main event of UFC 308, with many believing that Topuria is the clear favorite to leave with the belt.

Alas, this is Max Holloway we’re talking about – so nothing can be ruled out. Both men are coming into this one in great form, and the expectation is that we’re in for a Fight of the Year candidate.

As we know, Holloway’s last fight came at lightweight when he knocked out Justin Gaethje to claim the BMF title. In terms of what the future holds, ‘Blessed’ has made it clear that he’d be more than happy to head back up to 155 pounds.

Max Holloway shows interest in Islam Makhachev clash

“You’ve got to do great things,” Holloway said. “We had that fight booked with Khabib a while back. They call Islam the Khabib 2.0, so I want all the taste. I want all the smoke. It’d be an honor to fight that guy and try to etch my name in the history book. First thing’s first is Ilia. If I had my choice, why not? Why not be able to fight Islam?

“Islam never ever wanted to fight me even when I was saying I was coming up to [155 pounds]. After fighting the guy that he was supposed to fight next, he still was saying, I don’t know why I would fight him. But then, recently, his tone changed, and he was like, Oh yeah if I can get past Topuria, he’d be open to fighting me. I was like, OK, that’s all we needed. We just needed that little crack in the door. I’ll squeeze my way through the rest; don’t worry about it.”

Quotes via MMA News