M. Holloway at a press conference after UFC 240. Photo: Reproduction/YouTube UFC
The featherweight champion (up to 65,7kg.), Max Holloway does not hide his desire to return to perform at lightweight (up to 70,3kg.). Recently, the athlete reported that he intends to fulfill his contract and defend his division title against Alexander Volkanovsky, in December, at UFC 245, but it will soon appear in the top category. The desire lies in the possibility of increasing his legacy by considering the Russian as the 'man to beat'. The statement was made in an interview with 'Sirius XM'.
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“If you want to be the pound-for-pound number one in the world, he’s the guy. He is undefeated. He is the guy. He's a weight class above me. I can barely wait. It's one of those fights that will definitely happen. Everyone keeps asking me when I'll be back at lightweight. Is coming. It’s going to happen,” said Holloway.
The 'Blessed', however, as usual, remained humble and tried to show respect to possible opponents among the lightweights who are in line for a title fight. According to Max, the reason he hasn't moved up a category yet is the desire to give his opponents the opportunity to fulfill their dream of being able to win the division belt.
“I am in no way going over Alex (Alexander Volkanovsky). I don't want to ignore any of my opponents, to be honest. We are all well surrounded. Everyone is very good”, commented the fighter.
Holloway said that his main objective is to fulfill his contract as a featherweight athlete. So, the fighter's maximum focus at the moment is to keep his belt and try to get closer to the mark left by José Aldo, who is the fighter with the most title defenses in the history of the category (six, in Ultimate).
“I have an obligation and a contract. I'm the featherweight champion. I don't want anyone to sit around waiting for me. When the opportunity to fight at lightweight arrives, it arrives. Now, we are defending my belt. I hope Khabib is still there when I come up because this is going to be a great fight. He's pound-for-pound number one. This is the type of fight that, when I think about it, excites me a lot”, concluded the fighter.
Although, according to Max's report, Khabib is number one, in the official UFC ranking the American is listed as absolute pound-for-pound. Jon Jones, light heavyweight champion (up to 93kg.), who took the place of Daniel Cormier after the heavyweight recently lost the title to Stipe Miocic.
'Blessed' recently ventured into the top division, when they competed for the interim division title against Dustin poirier. On that occasion, the North American was defeated by his compatriot in a unanimous decision by the judges. However, Max promoted, together with his compatriot, one of the most exciting fights of the year so far.
Holloway has a commitment to Ultimate for December 14th. On that occasion, the North American will make his fourth title defense.
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