UFC featherweight Max Holloway, 24, is on an eight-fight win streak, with all but two were finishes. And he has kept a blistering pace in the UFC, fighting four times in 2012, four times in 2013, just twice in 2014, and then four times in 2015. But now it’s April in 2016, and he has not fought and nothing booked.
Holloway’s last loss was to current division champion Conor McGregor, whose notoriety has eclipsed most of the rest of the division. At UFC 200 on July 9, McGregor has a rematch with lightweight Nate Diaz, at welterweight. And on the same card, Frankie Edgar fights Jose Aldo for an interim featherweight title that few understand the reasoning for.
Where Holoway fits in is not exactly clear to him. And he doesn’t believe McGregor is ever returning to featherweight.
“At the end of the day, who knows if he comes back to 145? Honestly, my feeling, I don’t think that he does,” said Holloway to Shaun Al-Shatti for MMA Fighting. “I think that 155-pound fight (against dos Anjos) was already saying that he just wanted to be at 155, hold the two titles, say that he did it, then just move up full-time. That’s what I thought he was thinking of doing, because he’s a big guy. All you hear of him is struggling to make 145. This guy struggles. You see, all he does is [cut weight] all week long.
“So he was going to go up sooner or later. Then you see him getting bigger every fight. … His last fight, he was a big boy. And he already had a hard time cutting. [With him] going back up to 170, I think he’s going to gain weight and have to cut a little, just trying to compete at that level, at 170. So who knows if he’s coming down?”
“I just feel left out because my last fight wasn’t a finish. When I was finishing guys, the media was on me like crazy. Then I have this one decision fight against a guy (Stephens) who, ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, these guys couldn’t finish him. And then [people are] looking at me, asking me how the hell I didn’t finish him. It’s like, look at these guys. These guys are beasts and they had a hard time with the fight too. They couldn’t finish him either.
“So I’m a true believer in, people only remember you for your last fight. And my last fight, I felt, was great, but I guess some people didn’t think it was so hot. So it is what it is.”
“I would like to get back in June or July. The UFC 200 card, that big one, or June on that big Weidman-Rockhold card (at UFC 199). But still, look, that’s almost half the year. Half the year is almost gone by fighting there, so I want to get busy.”
“If it takes 10, 12, 13… I’ll just keep going. Because like I said, I want to just prove I’m the best in the world. So if I have to keep proving it, I’m going to go out there and keep proving it. But at the end of the day, I want those big money fights. So whenever the big money fights start rolling in, that should be fun. But I don’t know. Who knows? The UFC has a mind of its own. Whatever they want to do, I’m down for. Just keep me active, please. That’s all I ask the UFC to do. Keep me active.”
