‘Blessed’ Is The Best, Baby!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight champion, Max Holloway, can become the first fighter since “Notorious” nemesis Conor McGregor to hold two consecutive titles in two different weight classes.

“Blessed” may have even called his shot:

The means to that end is a win over top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was in need of a new opponent after Tony Ferguson blew out his knee and was forced to withdraw from UFC 223 less than a week before fight night.

And when UFC called, “Blessed” didn’t even bat an eyelash, despite coming off a recent leg injury, telling KHON 2 that fighting an “animal” like Nurmagomedov was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.

“My manager called me. He said, ‘Tony’s hurt’ and ‘they want you and Khabib’. I was like… ‘how do you turn down an opportunity like this?’ I’ve got business to handle at 145. But I said, when the UFC call, I’m only one call away. They called the right guy. I’m here, six days’ notice — April 7 is going to be a great night. You know what they say, ‘to beat the best you’ve got to be the best’, and the best is ‘Blessed,’ baby. I can’t wait. This guy’s one of the most feared guys, I don’t know why. We’re all fighters, we all train. He’s human, I’m human and we get to go out there and see who is better.”

In his last 12 fights at featherweight, no one has been better than Holloway, which is probably why he was the promotion’s first choice, even with this guy (and even this guy) hanging around.

That said, Nurmagomedov boasts a 25-fight unbeaten streak.

Fortunately for mixed martial arts (MMA) fans, the score will be settled in the UFC 223 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this Saturday night (April 7, 2018) inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (full fight card here).

Though no telling what happens to this guy in the process.