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High-volume kickboxer, Max Holloway, will put his Featherweight title on the line opposite one of the sport’s premier wrestle-boxers, Frankie Edgar, this Saturday (July 27, 2019) at UFC on ESPN 4 from inside Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
A four-year, 13-fight win streak came to an end for Holloway back in April (highlights), but the Featherweight kingpin looks no less vulnerable. In fact, the ability to quickly jump up to Lightweight and take Dustin Poirier — who’s on a remarkable tear — to a competitive decision loss is a testament in itself to Holloway’s skill and talent. While an eventual permanent move to Lightweight seems inevitable, Holloway still has business at 145 pounds. One of the biggest names to cross off his list is Edgar, who Holloway has nearly fought several times previously. Barring any last-minute mishaps, it’s a great match up that’s finally here.
Let’s take a closer look at the keys to victory for each man:
Striking
Throughout his career, pace has remained the most consistent weapon in Holloway’s attack. Early in his career, Holloway was something of a wild man who loved to jump into the air or spin unexpectedly. He later developed into more of a body punching brawler and further still into the refined technician that holds the belt.
All the while, Holloway won consistently be throwing way more punches than his opponents.
Boxing is really the core of Holloway’s diverse stand up game. He still may throw spinning kicks and flying knees, but none of that would matter without the base from which he builds. Look at his original title win over Jose Aldo, where a one-two combination, pull, one-two combination ended the Brazilian’s night. That mix of straight shots and pulls is the core of Holloway’s game and seems simple enough, but Holloway lands often because of his snappy punches and range control (GIF).
Boxing begins with the jab, and Holloway uses his jab quite well to control range. Opposite shorter men looking to close the distance — a fair number of his foes — Holloway’s footwork and jab are enough to maintain distance. Against fighters willing to strike from the outside, Holloway moves in behind his jab well to set up his combinations (like in the above Jose Aldo .GIF).
Holloway builds off the jab very well. He mostly relies on his jab, cross and lead hook, but Holloway uses feints and high activity to make his boxing more than formidable. In addition, hooking off the jab is a signature technique of Holloway. Most fighters alternate left hand-right hand-left hand in perpetuity, which means a hook off the jab — two lefts in a row — helps disrupt the defense by upsetting expectations. Holloway digs to the liver off the jab commonly, and his right hand that follows the jab-hook has a great chance of landing.
Against Brian Ortega, Holloway repeatedly nailed the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace with straight punches by shifting his stance while firing straight punches (GIF), extending the combinations until he was landing at will. After the cross, he would slip his head off the center line — avoiding whatever single punch counter Ortega fired back — and transition into the opposite stance simultaneously. Often, another one-two combination followed.
Holloway did find some success against Poirier with this same strategy, but Poirier’s composure and defense really frustrated Holloway. When Poirier hid behind his elbows and denied Holloway a clear path to his chin, Holloway struggled to find openings. As a result, he sometimes stayed in the pocket for too long, which gave Poirier more chances to counter.
One of Holloway’s most consistent strategies is body work, which builds upon his usual range and cardio advantages. In this week’s technique highlight, we discuss how Holloway gets his foe’s hands high before digging low.
Another of the more notable techniques of Holloway is his ability to draw his foe into counters. He’s a very active striker who’s willing to work from the pocket, and that causes his opponent to expect him to be in range. After touching his foe with a straight shot, he pulls back before returning fire. When his opponent comes up short, Holloway is in range to counter (GIF).
Holloway is a smart kicker with a wide variety of techniques. He’s settled down a lot in the last few years, as he now sticks to well set up roundhouse kicks much of the time. For example, he’ll get his foe moving backward or take an angle before chopping at the leg. In addition, Holloway will take advantage of being in the opposite stance of his opponent and attack with power kicks to the body (GIF).
A big addition to Holloway’s game a few years back was the spinning back kick. It’s another excellent technique that works the body, and Holloway sets it up well. Usually, he’ll look for this strike when his opponent is trying to take a breather or is backed into the fence, as he’s more likely to land (GIF). Holloway has began throwing the spinning wheel kick as well, which builds off the threat of the back kick.
Wrestling
Holloway would not have been able to pick apart 13 straight foes if he was getting taken down consistently. Even against a stronger foe who once out-wrestled him in Poirier, Holloway’s takedown defense held up very well.
Holloway really isn’t one to actively change levels and hunt for the shot or even look to trip from the clinch. However, he did utilize a step behind trip opposite Anthony Pettis, sliding his lead leg behind Pettis’ then backing him over it. It was a lower energy way to trip Pettis to the mat and further assert his dominance, as well as cause Pettis to burn up the gas tank by scrambling back to his feet (GIF).
Defensively, Holloway really does everything correct, and that begins with his stand up. Thanks to his good habits of maintaining a healthy distance — or hiding his ability to close distance with footwork — and keeping his feet under him, Holloway is rarely caught out of position and is difficult to shoot against. When his opponent does get in on his hips, Holloway will often feed his foe the single leg and hop back to the fence. Once there, he can widen his base and score with occasional punches and elbows until an opportunity to escape emerges.
Finally, Holloway does a very nice job limiting the amount of time he spends on his back. When he is brought down to the mat, he quickly bounces back up or wall-walks. While this does take a fair amount of energy, Holloway’s extremely deep gas tank is an eternal advantage. Meanwhile, his opponent — who’s likely been eating body shots the whole night — just did a ton of work with very little payoff, leaving him in prime position to eat more punches and kicks.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Holloway’s bouts rarely end up on the ground because he doesn’t want them there. When he’s on his back, Holloway isn’t searching for submissions — he’s trying to scramble back to his feet. That said, Holloway has demonstrated at least one wrinkle of his submission game inside the Octagon. He’s become very aggressive with his high elbow guillotine choke, which is responsible for two of the wins on his current streak.
The first came at the end of a back-and-forth battle with Andre Fili. After hurting the Californian with a spinning kick to the body, Holloway moved in and fired off a combination. The wounded Fili shot in for a single-leg takedown, and Holloway seized the opportunity by snatching his neck and falling into the choke. When Fili attempted to roll out, Holloway continued to apply pressure and forced the tap (GIF).
A bit more recently, Holloway repeatedly attacked Cub Swanson with the same guillotine. Holloway rocked and dropped Swanson multiple times in their bout, and he usually followed him to the mat and tried to force the choke. In the third round, Holloway finally locked it in and advanced into mount. From there, he cranked on his opponent’s neck and broken jaw until “Killer Cub” submitted (GIF). Finally, Holloway countered Lamas’ double-leg attempts with his guillotine. He was able to gain top position twice thanks to this submission, and he even attempted a transition into the north-south choke at one point.
Conclusion
Now back in his home weight class, Holloway likely wants to return with a bang. Edgar is a very well-respected and very tough opponent — the perfect foe for Holloway to put on a statement performance, the type that says the king is here to stay.
Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.