Max Holloway Was Right About UFC Featherweight Division

Max Holloway put on what one of the greatest performances in UFC featherweight division history when he bludgeoned Brian Ortega (full highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., December 8, 2018) UFC 231 from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The fourth-round doctor’s stoppage gave Holloway an amazing 13 straight wins in the UFC. To put that in perspective, that tied him with all-time greats Georges St-Pierre, Demetrious Johnson, and Jon Jones. After the fight, Dana White understandably fast to praise his 145-pound champ, but still wanted him to move up to lightweight. After all, Holloway dealt with several injuries that had kept him out of action for all of 2018 until this week.

Holloway soon acknowledged that his boss’s plans for him in his own post-fight reaction, and he wasn’t so quick to confirm a move up. While he knows he has to play ball with his boss, he does think there’s a lot left for him at featherweight:

“I just heard Dana, you know he said he wants me at ’55. We talk to the boss, we’ll see what happens. You know, sometimes it’s not what I wanna do, it’s what they wanna do. We’ll go from there. I got some time on my hands now. We sit down and we talk, and we figure it out. There’s a lot, I still think there’s a lot at 45, there’s a lot at ’55, a lot of fun ones, and I just can’t wait. I’m the guy. I was waiting to fight one of the best on six days, you know? Who else will do that?”

There’s been a lot of talk about Holloway’s weight cut, yet he focused on the fact he had never missed the 145-pound limit. Still, he admits it’s a tough cut so a move up to lightweight may be inevitable. He also told reporters after the fight (via MMA Mania) that he wants to keep defending his belt:

“When a king leaves a throne and his village, someone tries to come and invade. So I’m here to stay. I’m here to stay, this was the easiest weight cut of my life. We’ll see what happens though. I keep hearing the boss, this guy keeps talking to the media before me, he keeps saying we’re talking about 155. Sometimes you can’t get what you want. He’s the boss and if he wants me up, so be it. We’ll go up there. But I want to defend. But there’s a lot of interesting fights for me at 155, for sure.” 

There are a ton of interesting fights available for Holloway at lightweight right now – that much is true. The huge fights against Khabib Nurmagomedov and/or Conor McGregor will always be the highest-earning options. There are some amazing fights still left at featherweight as well, however. The title bout Holloway pulled out of against No. 3 Frankie Edgar at March’s UFC 222 is always there. Edgar pulled out of his own match with Chan Sung Jung at November’s UFC Denver, but his overall resumé could earn him one more title shot.

There’s also a bout with surging under-the-radar contender Renato Moicano. He was supposed to be a backup fighter for Holloway vs. Ortega but actually missed weight by one pound in a strange turn of events. Regardless, he’s one of the most dangerous contenders in the division.

Finally, two-time title contender Chad Mendes is also back. He’ll face lesser-known but dangerous No. 10 contender Alexander Volkanovski soon. A vicious finish by either man could make them a solid contender for Holloway even though “Blessed” would be justifiably favored. Mendes is closer; Volkanovski would arguably have to pick up one or two more impressive wins.

Either way, Holloway isn’t wrong when he says there are some great fights for him left in his original weight class. He’s young and one of the most dangerous fighters in the UFC, so a move up to lightweight can most likely wait.

Who do you want to see him fight next?