Max Holloway has the biggest challenge of his mixed martial arts career in front of him Saturday in Brooklyn, N.Y.
But he’s got another one to take care of a day earlier.
Despite moving up in weight, the UFC’s 145-pound champion will have only five days from signing to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight title to make the 155-pound limit for the UFC 223 main event.
Under normal circumstances, with a full training camp behind him, it wouldn’t be a problem.
But coming off an ankle injury and taking a fight on just six days’ notice, Holloway has an arduous task ahead of him to be on weight by the time weigh-ins roll around on Friday.
He wouldn’t reveal Tuesday how much of a weight cut he had to make. All that mattered was he expects to make it.
“We knew my nutritionist was up here (in New York) and I gave him the numbers on my weight,” Holloway said. “He said we could do it, and so as soon as I got the OK from him, I said let’s do the fight.”
Never one to shy away from a fight, Holloway can cement himself as one of the all-time greats already, at age 26, with a win over Nurmagomedov, who is 25-0 in his MMA career.
Holloway would join Conor McGregor as the only fighters in history to hold two different world titles at the same time.
Oddsmakers opened with Nurmagomedov as a 5-1 favorite.
“When it comes to a fight like this, you want to be a legend. You want to be No. 1 pound-for-pound,” Holloway said. “Everyone keeps telling me I’m a new-school guy with this old-school attitude. I just want to be the best. Khabib is one of the guys highly touted and said he could be the best, but I want to be the best.”
Nurmagomedov went through a full training camp expecting to fight Tony Ferguson, who was stripped of his interim title after suffering a knee injury at a UFC-related event last week, forcing him to pull out of the fight.
It was the fourth different time a Nurmagomedov and Ferguson fight had to be scrapped after being announced.
At a press conference in January with Holloway, Frankie Edgar, Ferguson and Nurmagomedov, UFC president Dana White was asked if he had a contingency plan should one of the two UFC lightweight contenders pull out.
Holloway butted in before White could answer.
“You got a 145 champion that would gladly take that spot,” Holloway responded.
Now that it’s happened, it remains to be seen what kind of shape Holloway will be in by fight time.
“I feel great,” Holloway said. “You know, let’s not forget that this guy is taking the fight on short notice too. I think it’s fair play.
“The (ankle) injury was coming along and was too fresh to be able to fight at 222, but we was attacking it hard in (physical training) and that’s why I was able to get this fight.”
Holloway hasn’t fought since knocking out Jose Aldo in the third round a second time in December. He was supposed to defend his featherweight belt against Frankie Edgar in March but had to pull out with the ankle injury.
Upon arriving in New York on Monday, Holloway was on a treadmill working out to continue his weight cut when Nurmagomedov walked in and started his own workout close to Holloway.
The two talked after they were done.
“I shook his hand and told him thank you for taking the fight and that’s about it,” Holloway said.
Nurmagomedov is 9-0 in the UFC with five unanimous decision wins and has not lost a round in his past seven fights.
“Heroes get remembered, but legends never die, and I can’t wait for this stuff because this is how legends are made,” Holloway said. “There’s no secret what he wants to do. I like to strike and he likes to strike a little, but he likes to dominate people on the ground. We’ll see who can execute it.
“I’m not overthinking it and I’m not overdoing it. This is another fight we make weight and then we go out there to perform.”