Max Holloway Unveils His Goals For Next Year

UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway is on top of the world right now after beating former featherweight champion Jose Aldo for the second time.

They main evented the UFC 218 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan on pay-per-view. As seen in the fight, Holloway was able to score a TKO victory over Aldo in the third round.

The championship rematch played out almost identically to their first bout at UFC 212 with Holloway eventually overwhelming Aldo with a barrage of punches to get the stoppage in the third round.

Now, Holloway is looking towards his next fight, and he made his goals known for 2018 during a recent interview.

“(My goal for 2018 is) two or three title defense and two or three times of putting the hammer down and letting everyone know that I’m here to stay for a long time,” Holloway told MMAjunkie.

“‘The Blessed Era’ is in full effect. There’s a lot of new contenders rising. I’m excited about the future. It’s about proving my worth now. I get to show that 2017 wasn’t a fluke.”

“My coaches don’t get the respect they deserve,” Holloway said. “I always try to let them know they’re loved. We’ve all got families. I miss so much stuff, but they are too. They give me their time and 100 percent effort and I’ll be forever grateful for that. Time is a valuable thing. If I give you 20 bucks, you can pay me back down the line.

You can pay me 10 days from now, 10 years from now, 10 minutes from now. But if I give you 20 minutes of my time, that’s 20 minutes I can never get back. You’ve got to respect that and it’s what I do.”

In regards to his future in the sports, he also made that known by saying that he doesn’t want to make an unceremonious exit from fighting. Rather than taking punishment down the road, he will get out before that happens.

“I’ll fight everyone and anyone and I’m going to keep my gas on the foot-peddle,” Holloway said. “This is just one year of champ life and I’m not ready to give it up. I just turned 26 and I want to fight until I’m 35 or so. Who knows? Once 35 comes we can make the decision.

I want to retire from the game, not let the game retire me. I don’t want to leave the game all busted up trying to hang on to false hope. I want to leave with my chin up, smiling and say I did everything I could possible do.

That’s what I want to do. I’m going to put on stellar performances and make everyone believe the hype.”