Max Holloway explains his mentality on taking fights and why he agreed to face Yair Rodriguez, even with the option to turn it down.
Former UFC champion and consensus 145-pound GOAT Max Holloway opened up 2021 with a bang with his performance over Calvin Kattar in January. That fight alone could’ve landed him a third crack against Alexander Volkanovski, the man who now possesses the title he once held and defended thrice.
Instead, the number one-ranked Holloway agreed to fight Yair Rodriguez, who is coming off a two-year layoff and hasn’t fought someone at the top since “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung in 2018.
On Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, the 29-year-old Hawaiian explained his approach to taking fights, while also taking a slight jab at many of his peers who choose to wait for opportunities to be handed to them.
“Everybody, every time, everywhere,” Holloway told Ariel Helwani.
“The UFC, they don’t have this tournament structure. So a lot of these guys, they’re just waiting at the elevator. They’re waiting at the elevator to go to the top. I’m not an elevator-waiter. There’s no line at the stairs. That’s where you can find me, at the stairs.
“This is not new for us. This is not new for us at all. For me and my team, it’s very important to not be elevator divas. I want to just get out there and keep doing the damned thing.”
Holloway says he was given the option to wait things out. Instead, he chose to keep himself active.
“I didn’t want to wait ’til the new year. I want to keep on fighting. Everywhere, everyone, every time. Let’s get it.
“UFC told us we didn’t have to. They told us we could wait it out. But, I was, like, ‘I ain’t about that.’ I talked to my team, I let my team know and they was all on board. And we’re here today.
“I wanted to be a little bit more active, for sure. That’s why we took the fight in July, and things just happened, man.”
Holloway and Rodriguez will headline this Saturday’s UFC event at the APEX.