Nine months ago, Max Holloway walked out of the Octagon after his most one-sided loss as a featherweight.
Never in his 12-year mixed martial arts career, spanning 30 fights and nine UFC main events, had Holloway looked as vulnerable as he did in the trilogy fight against current 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski.
It was the last of three losses to the UFC’s current No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter and was seemingly the end of his chase to get back to the top of the division.
The funny thing about that, however, is when you’ve been at the top for so long, you’ve cleaned out the division.
Holloway’s last win was a convincing one against Yair Rodriguez, who is now the interim featherweight champion preparing for a likely fight against Volkanovski, who moved up in weight to challenge for the lightweight belt, forcing the UFC to create an interim title.
The fighter ranked behind Holloway in the division, Brian Ortega, never had a chance in Holloway’s mesmerizing fourth-round TKO win in 2018.
That leaves Arnold Allen, the No. 4-ranked fighter in the division, as the only worthy opponent to fight Saturday night in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card in Kansas City, Mo.
Nine months ago, it seemed like the end of Holloway’s title chase. In reality, a convincing win Saturday and there’s not much else for him to consider than vying for the title once again.
“I’m still right here. I’m still right in front of him,” Holloway said in a phone interview Tuesday. “People keep giving me a hard time about how we’re going to do a fourth (Volkanovski fight) and all that, but this is MMA. At the end of the day, anything can happen.”
Holloway said he was over the loss to Volkanovski the very next day before heading home from Las Vegas.
As he pointed out, his sport is different than baseball, basketball and even golf, when you can have a bad outing and get back right out there and make up for it.
In the fight world, it’s taken nine months for him to get back out and prove he still belongs.
“You’re only as good as your last fight in this business.” Holloway said. “Mine obviously didn’t go that well, but it is what it is. I took some time to rest up, take care of same nagging injuries, and we’re here. It’s time to show the world who I am once again.”
Holloway, 31, likes to point out he’s a veteran, but he’s not old.
Allen, 29, is only two years younger and is undefeated in 10 fights in the UFC, but has never faced this kind of competition.
Holloway compared it to when he fought Cub Swanson, a fighter who had fought for the title, during his nine-fight win streak that led him to earning an interim championship bout against Anthony Pettis.
“Yeah, I would say the Cub fight or even Charles Oliveira, you’ve seen what that guy can do moving up in weight,” Holloway said. “Those were all big wins when you’re trying to move on up, but this is a different test (for Allen) and we’ll see what he got come Saturday night.”
Holloway has channeled boxer Roy Jones Jr. in many of his prefight interviews. He feels like people have somewhat forgotten about him.
After his second loss to Volkanovski, he came back and put on a classic, landing the most strikes in history in a fight in destroying Calvin Kattar.
After losing to Dustin Poirier when he moved up to lightweight, he came back down to 145 pounds and made easy work of Frankie Edgar.
Volkanovski is the only fighter to beat Holloway at 145 pounds in a decade.
Holloway says he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“I’m hearing the critics, hearing the media, hearing all of the social media people talking and I just can’t wait to go out there and show out,” Holloway said. “We’ll get to see. He has a lot of questions and I have a lot of questions and we all will get the answers come April 15.”
