Max Holloway: People Are Sleeping On Me In This Division
With eleven UFC bouts since of February 2012, it’s hard to forget that no. 9-ranked featherweight Max Holloway is still only 23 years old.
The surging young competitor will take a five-fight win-streak into his pivotal matchup with no. 4 Cub Swanson on the main card of UFC on FOX 15 this weekend (Sat., April 18, 2015) from Newark, New Jersey.
Holloway grew up watching Swanson get his start in World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), so he has a ton of respect for what the top-ranked veteran has accomplished. However, he told MMAJunkie.com that, with UFC on FOX 15 potentially his coming out party, he’s ready to unveil just how great of a fighter he truly is:
“Cub is a guy I used to watch when I wasn’t even in the UFC; in the WEC I was watching Cub, so he’s a great fighter. I’m in this place in my mind where I feel great. I feel free. I just can’t wait to make this weight and go out there and show the world what I have to offer. People need to tune in. I get nervous, I’m nervous, but it’s a great kind of nervous.”
A small amount of nerves may be healthy in dealing with Swanson, who’s coming off a devastating loss to dominant wrestler Frankie Edgar at last November’s UFC Fight Night 57. Holloway knows that takedowns aren’t his strong suit, so he’s planning on meeting ‘perfect matchup’ Swanson in a battle of lethal strikers:
“The matchup is perfect. He’s a striker and he goes for broke out there. I’m a striker and I go for broke out there, so I can’t wait. We’re going to go in there, stand toe-to-toe and see who falls down first. And I’m totally fine with that. If I can walk away with $50k or $100k (in bonuses), extra money is always fun.
“Frankie showed me I need to get in his face and outwrestle him, but I’m not a wrestler, so that’s out of the equation for me. I’m going to go in there and do what I do best. And that’s being Max Holloway. I find a way to win no matter what. I’ll go out there and fight my heart out for 15 minutes if it goes that way and just leave it all in there. I’ve been training hard so I’m not going to just fall over. I’m going to go in there and have the fight of my life.”
Holloway is aiming for the top level of the packed and buzzing UFC featherweight arena, and he’s well aware that the winner of his bout with Swanson could move on to a potentially huge fight against Chad Mendes or the winner of May 16’s Edgar vs. Urijah Faber bout.
Holloway thinks that he’s been forgotten a bit amidst all the hype and confusion, but he knows that he can’t look past Swanson in any sense. If he can topple that challenge, that’s when he’ll address his fighting future:
“I want to get in that top spot and I feel like people are sleeping on me in this division. I’ve got to show the world. I take it on step at a time and just keep proving why I belong up there with them. I’ve heard people say the winner of my fight will fight Chad Mendes. Or could possibly fight Frankie or Faber. It could even be a title shot. I’m not focused on that right now though.
“I’m focused on the task at hand and we’ll take it one step at a time. Cub is a guy I need to take serious. He’s got that one punch knockout power and he’s no joke on the ground. If I’m in the winning end, we’ll talk to the UFC and see what happens.”
Photo Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
