Tag: UFC Fight Island 7

Alexander Volkanovski On Max Holloway: ‘He Doesn’t Look Like That In Front Of Me’

VolkanovskiUFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski believes a trilogy with Max Holloway doesn’t go differently at all. Holloway made headlines for his masterful performance against Calvin Kattar that resulted in a lopsided unanimous decision win in the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner this past weekend. It led to calls for a trilogy fight with Volkanovski as […]

Volkanovski

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski believes a trilogy with Max Holloway doesn’t go differently at all.

Holloway made headlines for his masterful performance against Calvin Kattar that resulted in a lopsided unanimous decision win in the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner this past weekend.

It led to calls for a trilogy fight with Volkanovski as despite Holloway being 0-2 against the champion, many feel this version of “Blessed” is more than capable of coming out on top — especially as many believe he should have won the rematch at UFC 251 last summer.

However, as far as Volkanovski is concerned, that version of Holloway was always there. He just happened to shut him down on two occasions.

“I was definitely watching, and yeah Max put on a good show,” Volkanovski said on Submission Radio. “I knew he would get the win. He put on the pace, and yeah, Kattar just couldn’t keep up. So, it was a good showing.

“He doesn’t look like that in front of me, plain and simple. And I don’t mean that as disrespect, but I shut him down, and that’s plain and simple. He was breaking records with numbers, and he’s always a high-volume fighter, he’s always looking good when there’s other people in front of him. But when it’s me in front of him, I just don’t let him do his thing. But in saying that, he did definitely put on a good performance, and I’m gonna credit him for that. But at the same time, he don’t look like that in front of me.”

Volkanovski is currently set to defend his title against Brian Ortega in a fight slated for UFC 260. However, he still doesn’t feel a trilogy with Holloway afterwards makes sense — even after the latter’s performance this past weekend.

That said, he isn’t ruling it out completely.

“They were keen before he even fought yesterday,” Volkanovski added. “They were obviously talking about a trilogy. Being 0-2, it doesn’t really make sense. That’s why Max moved on, that’s why Max went and fought yesterday, because he knew that it just does not make sense. And that’s why obviously the UFC put Ortega in front of me. So, we need to move on.

“Is it going to be further down the track? Look, I’m not gonna say that’s not gonna happen. I believe that Max is doing what he needs to do to stay a number-one contender, and if we have to meet again, we have to meet again. But at the same time, there’s going to be a different opponent in front of me, and that’s what I’m gonna focus on. But yeah, we’ll see what happens.”

Do you believe this is a different version of Holloway? Or was it the same and Volkanovski just shut him down?

Khabib Nurmagomedov Thinks Max Holloway Hasn’t Hit His Prime Yet

HollowayIt’s fair to say Khabib Nurmagomedov was impressed by the performance of Max Holloway. Holloway enjoyed arguably the best performance of his career after a lopsided unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner this past weekend. Many observers likened the performance to that of Muhammad Ali as calls increased […]

Holloway

It’s fair to say Khabib Nurmagomedov was impressed by the performance of Max Holloway.

Holloway enjoyed arguably the best performance of his career after a lopsided unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner this past weekend.

Many observers likened the performance to that of Muhammad Ali as calls increased for a trilogy fight with current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

And as far as Nurmagomedov is concerned, Holloway — who just turned 29 — is yet to reach his prime.

“I think about Max, he is already one of the best to ever compete in MMA,” Nurmagomedov said in a recent interview on Fight Island (via Middle Easy). “He’s one of the best, and maybe, probably he is the best featherweights of all time. I think it was his best performance. And when we look at Max, he’s not old. He has a lot of fights in the UFC, but he’s how old? 28, 29 something like this?

“I think his prime time is coming. It’s not come yet. I think this year or maybe next year is going to be his prime time. It was not when he was champion. I think his time is going to come, he’s going stay focused, doing everything that he has to do… I think his time’s going to come maybe the end of this year, maybe next year. It was his best performance. I believe he has potential to be more of a great fighter than he already is.”

There was one moment in the fight where Holloway was talking to the commentary team and declared himself the best boxer in the UFC all while avoiding strikes from a battered Kattar.

So what did Nurmagomedov think of Holloway’s claim?

“About the best boxer, I’m not sure, but he’s one of the best for sure, and his cardio, I think he has very good cardio, very good chin, and now he’s experienced,” Nurmagomedov added. “It was his best performance, but in the future he has a couple years to show it and maybe be the best fighter of all time.”

Was Nurmagomedov impressed enough to come out of retirement and potentially face Holloway? That remains to be seen for now.

Do you agree with Nurmagomedov about Holloway still being yet to reach his prime?

Santiago Ponzinibbio Releases Statement Following Knockout Defeat At UFC Fight Island 7

PonzinibbioSantiago Ponzinibbio was understandably gutted with his result against Li Jingliang. Ponzinibbio was competing for the first time in over two years when he faced Jingliang on the main card of UFC Fight Island 7 yesterday. And while he was looking to make a statement in his comeback, it was Jingliang who did just that […]

Ponzinibbio

Santiago Ponzinibbio was understandably gutted with his result against Li Jingliang.

Ponzinibbio was competing for the first time in over two years when he faced Jingliang on the main card of UFC Fight Island 7 yesterday.

And while he was looking to make a statement in his comeback, it was Jingliang who did just that as he knocked Ponzinibbio out cold in the first round to earn arguably the biggest win of his career.

Ponzinibbio released a statement on social media soon after.

“I have no words to describe the sadness I feel,” Ponzinibbio wrote on Instagram. “I wanted to return giving a victory, you deserve it for so much support. I worked very hard for this event, a whole year of preparation but this sport is like that, there is a part out of control, a blow that comes in and everything ends.

“I want to thank all the messages and the love of always! All my life I forged it on adversity, this time it will be no different. I’m coming back stronger than ever.”

It’s a big blow for Ponzinibbio who was not only looking to return to the rankings, but also potentially title contention as his seven-fight winning streak came to an end.

He will now have to embark on another winning run if he is to realize his dream of becoming UFC welterweight champion.

Do you think Ponzinibbio will return stronger?

Conor McGregor Responds To Max Holloway’s ‘Best Boxer’ Claim, Holloway Fires Back

McGregorConor McGregor took issue with Max Holloway’s claim that he was the best boxer in the UFC. Holloway enjoyed a completely dominant and lopsided unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner yesterday. Going into the contest, some observers predicted Kattar would come out on top given his boxing pedigree. […]

McGregor

Conor McGregor took issue with Max Holloway’s claim that he was the best boxer in the UFC.

Holloway enjoyed a completely dominant and lopsided unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner yesterday.

Going into the contest, some observers predicted Kattar would come out on top given his boxing pedigree. However, Holloway was able to outbox and overwhelm him as he broke the record for most significant strikes landed in a fight.

At one point during the fight, Holloway was even clowning Kattar by telling the commentary team that he was the best boxer in the UFC all while evading strikes from Kattar at the same time.

That clip notably went viral and McGregor decided to take a jab at Holloway after the event by mocking that claim with a “Lol.”

McGregor clearly thinks he is the best boxer in the UFC and he could have an argument for it.

That said, Holloway wasted little time in firing back at the Irishman. In slick fashion, “Blessed” quote retweeted praise from Oscar Willis — writer for McGregor’s The Mac Life website — and wrote the same.

There’s certainly respect between the pair following their first fight in 2013, but there have also been jabs such as this here and there in recent years.

It would certainly be intriguing to watch them throw down again.

Who do you think is the better boxer?

Dana White On Booking Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway Trilogy: ‘I Think We Have To’

WhiteMax Holloway could be preparing to face Alexander Volkanovski a third time in his next fight. Holloway returned to the win column in emphatic fashion after a striking masterclass in his lopsided unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner on Saturday night. The manner of the performance led many […]

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Max Holloway could be preparing to face Alexander Volkanovski a third time in his next fight.

Holloway returned to the win column in emphatic fashion after a striking masterclass in his lopsided unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner on Saturday night.

The manner of the performance led many to call for a trilogy with current featherweight champion Volkanovski. Although Holloway lost both his meetings to the Aussie, there were already calls for him to face him a third time especially as many felt he should have won the rematch.

And with this performance against Kattar, those calls will only continue to increase and as far as UFC president Dana White is concerned, that’s the only fight to make for Holloway.

“I think we have to,” White said at the post-fight press conference of a trilogy. “I think we have to. When you’re the champion, you have the top five guys in the world gunning at you. When you’re the number one contender in the world, you’ve got the top 10 guys in the world. Sometimes, number eight is more dangerous than number three.

“Tonight, he [Holloway] fought a bad dude that a lot of people thought was going to beat him and he went out and treated him like number six. So, he did what he needed to do in spectacular fashion tonight and I think he deserves to fight Volkanovski again.”

For now, Volkanovski is seemingly set to face Brian Ortega at UFC 260 first. But should he come out on top, it looks like we might see a trilogy on our hands.

Do you want to see the trilogy? Who comes out on top?

UFC Fight Night: Holloway Vs. Kattar Bonuses

UFC Fight Island 7Earlier tonight (Sat. January 16th, 2021) UFC Fight Island 7 took place from a partially filled Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The arena played host to an integral matchup in the UFC Featherweight division between the former champion Max Holloway and rising contender Calvin Kattar. After losing a successful bid to reclaim his […]

UFC Fight Island 7

Earlier tonight (Sat. January 16th, 2021) UFC Fight Island 7 took place from a partially filled Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

The arena played host to an integral matchup in the UFC Featherweight division between the former champion Max Holloway and rising contender Calvin Kattar. After losing a successful bid to reclaim his title in June of 2020, Holloway looked towards the upcoming contender Kattar to get himself back in the win column and set himself in place for another title fight. This fight proved to be the perfect way to start 2021 delivering a five-round striking clinic hosted by the former champion. In the co-main, two UFC veterans faced off in the Welterweight division. The former interim champion Carlos Condit took on Matt Brown in an excellent three-round war that saw Condit take the decision to claim victory. Outside of these two bouts, the first event of the year proved to be phenomenal with the main card delivering stellar performances and many finishes warranting bonuses.

The First Performance of the Night bonus of the night went to Alessio Di Chirico for his stellar knockout of Joaquin Buckley. The highly-touted prospect was predicted to add yet another highlight-reel finish to his record when taking on Di Chirico, however, it was Buckley who wound up on the end of someone else’s highlight reel knockout. Di Chirico landed a head kick in the middle of the first round and closed the show.

The next Performance of the Night bonus came in the following fight when Li Jinliang pulled off an upset when welcoming back the streaking Welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio. After a long feeling out process Jinliang was able to find a show that would ultimately close the show and break the winning streak Ponzinibbio had complied before his extended layoff from the sport.

The final bonus, Fight of the Night came in the five-round main event between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar. This fight showcased how technically sound Holloway is and also just how durable Kattar can be. From the first round, Holloway displayed an extremely high pace and volume landing the most strikes in a UFC fight ever. While Kattar was on the other end of the onslaught, the top-ranking featherweight did have some big shots of his own. These, however, were few and far between. Overall Holloway dominated the fight and won on the judge’s scorecards to put himself back in the win column and as close as possible to the next title shot.