Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
As promised, newly-crowned Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, will grant former division kingpin, Max Holloway, and immediate rematch following his victory over “Blessed” in the UFC 245 co-main event last weekend in Las Vegas.
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“I think he deserves it,” Volkanovski said after the fight. “Do I have to beat him to prove I’m a better fighter? I think we had five rounds to do it, and I’m pretty sure I won it pretty clearly. But anyways, people are still going to doubt. They’re still going to. But I’ll be ready for it, and he does deserve it.”
Holloway would likely get an immediate rematch based on his lengthy run as 145-pound champion. Prior to his Volkanovski loss, the Hawaiian captured 14 straight fights in the featherweight division with 10 finishes.
But he’s not ready to make any decisions on his future just yet.
“I’m gonna sit down with my team. Watch the tape. Sit down with Dana,” Holloway said. “If they hit me up, it is what it is, the fans make it happen, it is what it is. I’m a fighter, I fight. But it’s a team decision with me. It’s not a me thing. I’m not all about myself. My team got me here. I’m going to sit down with my team, talk to Dana, and we’ll go from there.”
Holloway pretty much cleaned out the 145-pound division so I’m not sure there’s a bigger or better fight for “Blessed” heading into 2020. It’s hard to imagine Team Holloway passing on Volkanovski in favor of Zabit Magomedsharipov or even Yair Rodriguez.
But it may be an even tougher hill to climb the second time around.
“I’ll be better prepared next time,” Volkanovski continued. “I know we know what works. We’re going to get an even better formula. He might think he’ll get me figured out again, but I’m just too powerful. They go one way, I go another. That’s the thing. I’m so well rounded. I can just go anywhere with it.”
That includes the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings, which will be updated later this week.