Holloway Takes Shot At McGregor: Some People Defend Championship Belts

Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

Max Holloway believes his “Bottle Cap Challenge” video was better than Conor McGregor’s and he’s letting the world know.

Holloway, who remains the UFC’s featherweight champion despite losing a bid for the interim UFC lightweight strap earlier this year against Dustin Poirier, produced one of the best “Bottle Cap Challenge” videos around when his kick spun the cap perfectly without actually coming off the bottle.

McGregor, who followed suit and eventually challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. to attempt the challenge, prevailed in kicking the cap off the bottle but couldn’t quite replicate the awesomeness of “Blessed,” even while holding a bottle of his Proper No. Twelve Irish whisky.

Holloway recently discussed McGregor’s bottle cap challenge in a media scrum captured by MMA Fighting (shown below), in which he threw a little bit of shade the Irishman’s way.

“McGregor’s? If you talk about it, Conor when he kicked it, his bottle cap when straight off. Mine kept on spinning and spinning and stayed on,” said Holloway. “It is preferences. Some people win championship belts, some people defend them, it is whatever they want.”

Remember, McGregor became the first fighter to simultaneously hold two UFC titles when he smoked Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to win the featherweight crown in 2015 and then eventually knocked out Eddie Alvarez to claim the lightweight belt nearly one year later. Unfortunately for McGregor, he never defended either title as UFC eventually stripped him of his 145-pound championship while inactivity cost him his lightweight throne.

Holloway, on the other hand, has defended his UFC featherweight belt on multiple occasions. Successful title defenses over the aforementioned Aldo and previously undefeated contender Brian Ortega set “Blessed” up for a shot at the lightweight belt at UFC 236. Unfortunately, Poirier was the bigger and better man that night and ended up defeating the Hawaiian via unanimous decision.

In case you forgot, McGregor defeated Holloway via decision back in 2013. That was the last time “Blessed” lost inside of the Octagon before his most recent clash with “Diamond.” So even though Holloway’s discussion about McGregor remains playful at heart, the two have been on a collision course for a rematch for years, especially as Holloway tries to cement his legacy as the best featherweight fighter in MMA history.

Holloway is currently scheduled to defend his featherweight title yet again against Frankie Edgar at UFC 240 later this month, while “Notorious” remains retired from competition.