Former UFC featherweight champion, Max Holloway stated that he has now reincorporated sparring back into training.
Just under two weeks ago, Holloway earned yet another impressive victory over a rising featherweight contender. ‘Blessed’ took on surging UK prospect Arnold Allen, ultimately proving too much for Allen and would outpoint the Englishman over five rounds.
While the win further cemented Holloway as the second-best 145er’ in the world, it also added to the Hawaii native’s record in both strikes landed and strikes absorbed. While Holloway has landed a total of 3122 significant strikes, over 1300 more than Frankie Edgar who is in second, Holloway has also been hit with more than 1,300.
While this is certainly a lot, Holloway’s chin is yet to crack and this could be due to the fact, a few years ago he announced that he no longer sparred in his camps. This first started during the covid-19 pandemic when Holloway would train via Zoom, and still picked up impressive wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez.
Max Holloway reverses sparring decision
Talking on The MMA Hour, Holloway revealed that began sparring again, but only out of camp.
“I spar outside of camp, so I don’t spar inside of camp,” said Holloway. “Most of my injuries came from sparring, and it would be when I was getting scrawny and stuff. Half the time they would give me this look and [my opponent] would mix it up in the fight.” (H/T MMANews)
Holloway now finds himself in a difficult position, having lost three fights to current champion Alexander Volkanovski, but seems to also be a step ahead of the other contenders in the division.
What would you like to see Max Holloway do next?