Athletes
Max Holloway | Rolling With The Tides
Hawaiian Superstar Talks McGregor Rematch, Future Possibilities
Max Holloway knows as well as anybody that one fight is all it takes to change the direction things are headed, for good or bad, and that tethering to past results is a fool’s errand.
“If you would have told me after my last fight that I was fighting Conor McGregor, I would have told you, ‘You’re doing drugs; you need help,’” Holloway said with a smile on Tuesday afternoon, speaking with Zac Pacleb of UFC.com.
It’s been peaks and valleys for the beloved Hawaiian over his last four outings, which perfectly illustrate why he’s always taken an “each fight we’re 0-0 heading into the Octagon” approach to things.
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His UFC 300 knockout of current lightweight titleholder Justin Gaethje remains one of the most iconic moments in UFC history but was followed by a return to featherweight and the first knockout loss of his career at the hands of then-champion Ilia Topuria.
After returning to the win column, successfully defending his BMF title, and finally getting one back against Dustin Poirier on the night “The Diamond” bid adieu to the sport, “Blessed” landed on the wrong side of a one-sided decision in March, dropping the BMF strap to Charles Oliveira, who leveled their personal series as one win each in the process.
“This is part of the sport — there’s ups, there’s downs; no losses in this sport, just learning blessings,” he said. “I learned a lot, and this is on to the next one. We’ve got a big hill to climb here, especially being at 170, and I’m excited for the challenge.”
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Saturday’s rematch with McGregor wasn’t on his radar, per se, but it is also a long time coming, as the two first met back in the summer of 2013, when “The Notorious” was a UFC sophomore and Holloway was still in his early 20s, trying to find his footing in the featherweight division.
McGregor won the fight but tore his ACL in the process, spending almost an entire year on the sidelines before his triumphant return at home in Dublin. The setback proved to be the last Holloway suffered in almost six years, as he steamrolled the competition on the way to claiming and successfully defending the featherweight title (after McGregor had won and subsequently vacated the belt) before losing to Poirier in an interim lightweight title fight at UFC 236.
It seemed like the opportunity for the two to renew acquaintances had passed with Holloway continuing to battle at featherweight before moving up to the 155-pound ranks and McGregor’s future in the Octagon uncertain, but the fates intervened, and the opportunity was presented to the affable veteran, and here we are.
“It’s been like any other one to be honest,” Holloway said. “A lot of people tell me I lied, but I got the best management in the game, and they keep everything under control. We keep it easy — as easy as we can with what we can control, and at the end of the day, it’s been fine; it’s really been fine.
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“There’s a lot more eyes, for sure on this fight — you saw what the ticket sales did — but fight week is going pretty smooth for us right now; I’m loving it.
“I’m just super-interested to see how the week plays out, to be honest,” he added. “We got that big press conference coming up, CBS is putting us live — it’s everything that comes with it; that’s what I’m looking forward to. I wanna see him Saturday night across the Octagon from me and get it done.”
Saturday’s pairing takes place at welterweight, which was a surprise to Holloway when he was first told, but never an issue, as he joked with his fellow Polynesian about their culture’s love of eating.
Main Event Preview | UFC 329: McGregor vs Holloway 2
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Main Event Preview | UFC 329: McGregor vs Holloway 2
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While the weight class is different, the mission for the now 34-year-old veteran remains the same as ever.
“I’m chasing moments, I’m chasing records,” Holloway said. “A lot of people keep telling me I’ve got a lot of them, but I want to make it more unreachable, so the next generation come in, and they see those goals and they try to break it. It’s all about pushing the next generation. At the end of the day, I’m trying to push’em, I’m trying to make moments.
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“We’re here where I did the spectacular 300 — if we can beat that moment against Conor McGregor, all eyes on the sport, I think that would be huge.”
In addition to having the opportunity to garner a measure of revenge against McGregor and potentially author another memorable moment at T-Mobile Arena, this weekend’s headlining assignment also has the potential to rapidly return Holloway to the title conversation, perhaps even in two different weight classes, which further underscores his earlier thoughts about the ups, downs, and unpredictable nature of what comes next in this sport.
“Everybody is saying if Conor wins, he gets a title shot at Gaethje or a title shot at Islam,” Holloway said, taking an extended beat to look around the room with an exaggerated, confused look on his face, which drew a ton of laughs. “It takes two to tango, brother, so if I win, I guess I get them too! Life looks good.
“All you gotta do is win in this sport and win excitingly,” he continued. “I’m gonna go out there, we’re gonna put on a show. We’re in the entertainment business. We’re prizefighters. I’m gonna go out there, remind everybody who I am, and who knows? I have history with the 155-pound champ, and everybody keeps throwing around the 170-pound champ’s name for Conor, so if I just fit myself right in there, it’ll be nice.”
Where things go from here all hinges on how things play out on Saturday night, but if things go the way Holloway anticipates, folks will be talking about his performance and predictive abilities come Sunday morning, and he’ll head home flush with options, right back in the thick of things.
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“Mystic Max is right, and we’re on to the next one,” he said with a smirk. “I get to put my name in the history books come July 11 and remind everybody.
“When it comes to me, they keep forgetting. One loss in this sport is so crazy to the world, so I just gotta go out there and remind the people.”
UFC 329: McGregor vs Holloway 2 took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 11, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!