Max Holloway is excited he gets the chance to solve a puzzle this weekend that no fighter has been able to solve.
The former UFC featherweight champion and recent BMF Title winner headlines Saturday’s UFC 308 card from Abu Dhabi against undefeated, highly touted reigning 145-pound champion Ilia Topuria.
“I can’t wait to go out there and test everything, test everywhere and see how I can match up against him,” Holloway told Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter ahead of his upcoming title fight. “There’s a lot of questions in his game; there’s a lot of questions in my game. I can’t wait to go out there and have fun.”
The last time fight fans saw Holloway compete was as the lead contender for 2024’s Knockout of the Year, when the Hawaiian star flattened Justin Gaethje in the literal last second of their featured five-round lightweight bout at UFC 300 in April.
One reason Holloway took that special fight with Gaethje at 155 pounds was because the 32-year-old had been stuck in featherweight no-man’s land after amassing an 0-3 record against Alexander Volkanovski in their title fight trilogy. All three of those losses were 25-minute decisions — two unanimous and one contentious split.
Holloway initially won an interim featherweight title by beating Anthony Pettis in 2016, later unifying the title when he stopped Jose Aldo the following year. He also defended the belt against Aldo in their rematch before also defending against Brian Ortega and Frankie Edgar. He eventually lost the belt to Volkanovski late in 2019.
“Blessed” has defeated every featherweight opponent put in front of him over the past decade not named Volkanovski.
Sandwiched between his third loss to Volkanovski and his win over Gaethje was a unanimous decision over Arnold Allen, plus a highlight third-round knockout of “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung 14 months ago.
Holloway is cutting back down to 145 pounds for the first time in more than a year in an attempt to become a two-time featherweight champion.
Topuria improved to 15-0 in MMA and 7-0 in the UFC, where he knocked out Volkanovski in the second round of their main event at UFC 298 in February to become champion.
“What he couldn’t do in 75 minutes, I did in seven,” Topuria said of his finish of Volkanovski during a recent heated interview. “(Holloway) has seven professional losses, I have zero. He’s the challenger, I’m the champion. That’s why I know that I’m going to knock him out.”
Holloway has never been knocked out in his 33-fight pro career.
Ivan Flores, Holloway’s striking coach, said on the UFC’s behind-the-scenes Embedded series Tuesday Holloway’s “focus is just tremendous right now. His focus where he’s at mentally right now is just extremely motivating for all of us. There’s a different level of maturity involved right now. The hunger is there, the drive is there, but there’s a different intensity, I think, that we all feel and it’s very inspiring, very motivating to all of us to want to do the best for him (during training camp and fight week).”
One area Holloway has a clear advantage in is experience at the highest level. Saturday’s main event will be Holloway’s 27th fight in the UFC’s 145-pound division, which is the most all-time, just like his 20 wins and 11 finishes in the weight class.
UFC 308 will also be Holloway’s 10th UFC title fight, excluding his BMF Title bout, while it will be Topuria’s eighth UFC appearance since joining the organization in the 2020.
“I just can’t wait to go face this guy, see what the hype’s about and, come Oct. 26, I can’t wait to get it done,” Holloway said.
Topuria, 27, has gone the distance just twice during his pro MMA career and went five rounds once in the UFC, when he battered Josh Emmett for 25 minutes 16 months ago to earn his title shot at UFC 298.
Holloway has required five full rounds eight times in the UFC since 2019 and was one second away from that number, being nine had he not connected flush on Gaethje’s chin during that frenetic finish at UFC 300.
It has been nearly five years since Holloway wore UFC gold.
“A fight is a fight at the end of the day,” Holloway added. “World title, no world title, Ilia’s a dangerous man so I look forward to stepping in the Octagon with him.”