Since UFC 194, the featherweight division has been a mess. After Conor McGregor took the title from Jose Aldo in 13 seconds last December, the future of the 145-pound category was unclear. When McGregor was booked in to face Rafael dos Anjos and then his replacement Nate Diaz at UFC 196, the situation was further complicated. Compounding this already wild saga was Diaz’s submission victory over ‘The Notorious’ on March 5. Once the rematch and subsequent, albeit narrow, decision win for McGregor was in the books, the brash Irishman headed to lightweight.
Taking out Eddie Alvarez to win a record-breaking second world title, McGregor had now fought three times outside the featherweight division. Jose Aldo had nearly retired over the absence of his Irish foe, and the time came for decisions to be made. Having defeated Frankie Edgar for the interim belt at UFC 200, Aldo was promoted to full champion when McGregor was eventually stripped. Surely things would take a steadier track at 145 pounds now? Well, not really.
Another Interim Title
Just as things seemed to be getting back to a regular rhythm, Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis was made for the interim 145-pound belt. Essentially an attempt to boost ratings for the flailing UFC 206 in Toronto, the junior belt was the third to be made in 2016. Reports that UFC 206 only raked in 150K PPV buys prove the interim belt is clearly not worth its weight in gold. Regardless, a unification bout with Aldo was surely next for Holloway. Again, not as simple as we’d imagine.
Aldo recently claimed Holloway has been making a stream of excuses to ‘duck’ a fight with him. Also indicating Khabib Nurmagomedov had turned down an interim lightweight title fight with him, ‘Scarface’ has been uncharacteristically vocal this week. In response to Aldo’s ridicule about injury and avoiding fights, Holloway tells FOX Sports exactly how it is. Needless to say, he’s pretty angry:
Holloway Is Not Impressed
“The next morning (after UFC 206) I woke my (expletive) ankle was swollen as an elephant’s leg. I told the UFC ASAP what was up and I don’t know why they didn’t announce it, but I went to the doctors as soon as possible and I was told I can’t do nothing for four to six weeks,”
“This guy is the last guy who should be talking about injuries. This mother (expletive) is the last guy that should be talking about injuries and being able to fight,” Holloway said. “He wants to talk about he never turned down an opponent in his life and he don’t pick his opponents. I can clearly — he said this, not me — he got offered to fight me. He got offered to fight me at (UFC) 205 and 206 and he would not fight me. He said he would rather fight Anthony Pettis and then he didn’t take that fight either. He’s saying ‘I don’t turn down fights’ — go ask Sean Shelby if Max Holloway ever turned down a fight. I never turned down a fight in my life.”
Pull Outs
“I respect he’s a legend, he’s a legend of the sport but he has seven title defenses and he pulled out of six of them. He’s almost got the same amount of pull outs as he does defenses. You tell me what’s going on. I never pulled out of one fight in my life. I took short notice fights. I’m the most active guy in the division,” Holloway said.
“This guy turns down a fight and he’s blaming his coach? Come on, get out of here. My coach didn’t want me to fight on Feb. 11 but I’m going to do what I’m going to do. I love my coaches but at the end of the day I need to get in there and do the damn thing and they respect that. Feb. 11 I wanted to fight, and then I go to the doctors and I have an injury. It would dumb of me to take a fight with Jose Aldo and I can’t train four to six weeks. This guy is seriously gone in his head. I fought 10 times in the last three years. How many times did he fight? Let’s compare.”
“Jose Aldo Is Stupid”
“He’s saying he never turns down a fight, he never chooses his opponents,” Holloway said. “This is his words ‘I would rather fight Anthony Pettis than Max Holloway because Max Holloway is a harder fight and Anthony Pettis is a bigger draw so I’ll just go the easier route’. Those are his own words.
“This guy’s stupid. I can use this guy’s words against him.”
“The thing that blows my mind, Aldo makes guys wait for months. Some guys who are supposed to fight him don’t even get to fight him. Erik Koch was supposed to fight him and Aldo got hurt. This guy makes people wait for months and months and he’s yelling at me? Get out of here. I didn’t even have a contract and you’re getting salty at me? You have contracts and you’re pulling out of them. Pulling out of a fight is just like not taking a fight.”
“He retires and then unretires and now he wants to call the shots? Mother (expletive), your belt was handed to you twice. He can go ahead and wait. I had to fight for mine. Get out of here with your crazy talk. Stay healthy and you’re going to see ‘Blessed’ in the New Year.”
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