Max Holloway is currently riding an extremely impressive nine-fight win streak, having defeated names such as Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, and most recently Ricardo Lamas; and is currently the No. 3-ranked featherweight in the UFC.
The 24-year-old has yet to receive a title shot since downing the elite of the 145-pound weight class, but has the opportunity to thrust himself into the title picture with a win over former lightweight champ Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis next month. The two will meet in the co-main event of UFC 206 with the winner most likely the next candidate to challenge for the 145-pound throne.
With a win Holloway does not want a rematch with current featherweight champ Conor McGregor, however, but instead a fight with interim 145-pound champ Jose Aldo who has gotten under the skin of the Hawaiian as of late. Speaking on SiriusXM Rush’s Toe-2-Toe earlier this week (courtesy of MMA Fighting), Holloway called the Brazilian champ a ‘pu**y’ for threatening to retire if not granted his rematch with ‘The Notorious One’ form UFC 194:
“After this fight everything to my agenda is let me know if Aldo found that f**king vaccine for that f**king pussy-itis he got. That motherf**ker been running. So tell him he can’t run for much longer. Tell him a Hawaiian is coming and I’m creeping. Tell him to be ready.”
While Holloway admits the obvious thing to do with a win over Pettis would be to call out McGregor, but believes the more ‘realistic’ option would be to throw down with Aldo next.
Make no mistake, however, Holloway would still love to avenge his previous loss to the Irishman, and welcomes the opportunity to silence the naysayers who claim that he was the only opponent the heavy-handed SBG Ireland product didn’t knock out because he was injured:
“The obvious thing is I would love to fight Conor McGregor. We’ve got some history there and he won and people saying he didn’t knock me out because of an injury he had. I was injured in the fight too so let’s test that theory, I want to test that theory. But being realistic, there’s a guy with an interim title inside our division. That’d be f**kin’ wild if the UFC let me pass the interim title to fight for the real belt. I’m just being realistic, that’s why I’m saying Aldo. And Conor’s gonna be gone for a while too. They said he might not be fighting for a while.”
“I have no control over it so why cry over spilled milk? You spill milk, are you gonna try and mop it up and squeeze the mop back into the carton? No, you mop that s**t up and you move on. I’m not gonna cry about something I have no control over. It is what it is. I’m gonna keep showing the world what I deserve…and they can’t be denying me for much longer. All I have to do is keeping on focusing on what Max Holloway does and that’s winning and winning fashionably.”
Despite many believing that Holloway could potentially hold out for a title fight given his recent streak of impressive victories, ‘Blessed’ instead wants to continue proving he is the best in the world. What better opportunity to do so than defeating a former champion?
“I ain’t making no excuses. Everybody is like, ‘oh you deserve a title shot, you should wait.’ If you’re waiting then you don’t believe you’re the best guy in the world. I believe I’m the best guy in the world. Pettis has a lot of value to his name. He’s a former champion. Motherf**ker’s on a Wheaties box so that’s pretty big. He has a huge name and I look forward to the challenge.”
If Holloway is able to emerge victorious over ‘Showtime’ come fight night in Canada, do you believe that a match-up with Aldo is on the horizon? Or will he again be denied a shot at the UFC gold he has been working towards his entire career?
Holloway and Pettis will meet in the co-main event of UFC 206 live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on December 10, 2016.
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