Athletes
Max Holloway: "I'm Still Here"
Former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway Can't Wait To See What A "Hungry" Arnold Allen Has To Offer In The Main Event Of UFC Kansas City.
It’s fitting that the latest episode of the ESPN+ series UFC Journey opens with Max Holloway and his family at the beach, smiles plastered to their faces, the love between them all evident for everyone to see because that is precisely what propels the former featherweight champion back into the Octagon this weekend in Kansas City, Missouri.
“They open up the show with us, and they talked about my family — Rush and my wife, Alessa — and it’s good,” said a clean-shaven Holloway as we spoke over Zoom on Tuesday afternoon, just a few days before the accomplished Hawaiian faces off with Arnold Allen in the main event of the UFC’s return to Kansas City. “It just seems like things are falling into place. We’re in a good place right now, especially in my personal life. It’s awesome.”
RELATED: Preview Every Fight On UFC Kansas City
The thoughtful family man explains how fighting has allowed he and his wife to buy some land and build the home of their dreams (in her town of Makaha, he notes), and how providing for her, his 11-year-old son from his previous marriage, and living the type of life they want to live is all the motivation he needs as he begins what feels like the next chapter in his already impressive UFC career.
But family isn’t the only motivating factor for the 31-year-old standout.
“I’m glad I’m able to do that, we’re able to have that, and those are the goals,” continued Holloway, who fights for the first time since suffering a third consecutive championship loss to Alexander Volkanovski last July at UFC 276. “I just want to be better.
MORE UFC KANSAS CITY: Fighters On The Rise | Backwards Is Not An Option For Chris Gutierrez | How TJ Brown Stays Hungry | Edson Barboza Is Ready For The Energy | Royval Brining Chaos And Peace
“That Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, hopefully I can get my face on it because we still got a lot more. I turn 32 at the end of this year, and we got a lot of time left.”
February marked the start of Holloway’s 12th year on the roster, and January was the 10-year anniversary of his victory over Will Chope in Singapore, which kicked off the lengthy winning streak that eventually carried him to the top of the division and superstar status in the UFC.
Though he’s come up short in recent championship outings, he’s also excelled in the exact type of fight that sits before him on Saturday: a pairing with an up-and-coming hopeful looking to beat him as a means of catapulting themselves into title contention.
Max Holloway | Greatest Hits
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Max Holloway | Greatest Hits
/
After suffering consecutive close defeats to Volkanovski in their first two encounters, Holloway used a pair of outings in 2021 to show everyone that he was still very much a menacing presence and miserable matchup for anyone with championship ambitions in the 145-pound weight class.
In the first main event of the year, he styled on Calvin Kattar, boxing up the New England Cartel representative, taking some time during the fifth round to chat with the commentary team seated next to the cage while continuing to evade punches and land crisp, punishing shots of his own. Ten months later, he outworked Yair Rodriguez over five entertaining rounds, earning scores of 49-46 and 48-47 twice to collect a unanimous decision victory.
View Holloway's Athlete Profile | Featherweight Rankings
“That’s the motto for this fight — ‘I’m still here!’ — with maybe a little Roy Jones Jr. in there, ‘Y’all Musta Forgot!’” he said when asked about his ability to thrive in these types of matchups. “We’ll see what happens, but I’ve had these moments and I enjoy these moments.
“The ABC moment (against Calvin Kattar) was huge, and that night, I remember having pictures of me next to Muhammad Ali because it was his birthday (the next day). I don’t know what happened that night — maybe the man possessed me because it felt good to be in there.
“With the Yair fight, that was a fight that was inevitable,” continued Holloway. “I knew I was going to match him up. We’d been in the UFC quite some time, and for us to get matched up at that point of our careers, it was a long time coming.”
There is an interesting duality to Saturday main event pairing as it pertains to Holloway, because while the former champion enters looking to remind everyone that he hasn’t gone anywhere, he also remains the “biggest fight of my career” for everyone that stands across from him inside the Octagon, including Allen this weekend.
That’s what happens when you’re destined for the UFC Hall of Fame, and the veteran standout understands it and welcomes it, because he was in that position once before, as well.
“Jose Aldo, and I don’t think it’s going to change, ever,” he said when asked about his own “biggest fight of my career” moment. “Maybe if we run it back with Conor (McGregor) — and I see him saying he wants to come back and do whatever, so we’ll see what happens — but for me, it’s always going to be Jose Aldo; he’s a living legend.
Max Holloway Fight Week Interview
“It was amazing to go out there and have a fight with him twice, one of them in Rio; that’s insane. I think it’s gonna be hard to top that one. The only one that might top that one — it isn’t an opponent, but it would be if I was able to go home and fight in Aloha Stadium some time.”
While Allen isn’t going to replace Aldo, Holloway recognizes the talent the ascending fighter from the United Kingdom possesses, and fully understands the position he’s in, having been there before himself.
Main Event Preview | UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Allen
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Main Event Preview | UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Allen
/
Holloway won 13 straight from that fight with Chope in January 2014 through his tandem victories over Aldo and successful title defense against Brian Ortega before venturing up to lightweight and losing to Dustin Poirier in a clash for the interim title. His 10th win came in an interim featherweight title clash with Anthony Pettis and set up his meeting with “The King of Rio” on his home turf, so he’s acutely aware of what this fight means for Allen and expects the best from him this weekend.
“He’s hungry — the man is undefeated in the UFC, he’s on a 12-fight winning streak, 10 wins in the UFC; that’s huge,” he said. “I remember being there — I was on a 10-fight winning streak once and I got my opportunity, and made the most of it, so I’m looking forward to a hungry Arnold Allen. I can’t wait to go out there and see what a hungry Arnold Allen has to offer.
“At the end of the day, he worked his way up, he trained hard, he fought hard, and he’s standing across from me for a reason, and I’ve got nothing but respect for that,” added Holloway. “He seems like a nice guy, but we got to handle business on April 15.
“Maybe we can go share some barbecue after; who knows?”
A post-fight trip to Joe’s or Arthur Bryant’s is something they’ll have to work out on their own, and as delicious and appealing as it sounds, it might not be in the cards if things work out the way Holloway envisions on Saturday night.
“I’ve been hearing the talk, hearing the chatter — a lot of people have been talking about “Pillow-Hands” Holloway, so I guess we gotta go out there and get the finish somehow,” he said, laughing at the new moniker, which he promises to turn into merchandise once he’s done with this week’s business trip to Kansas City. “If I tap him out, I guess the name sticks, but hopefully I can go out there, get the finish; remind people about these hands.”
UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Allen took place live from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on April 15, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
