Max Holloway: An all time great
Max Holloway entered the UFC at the age of 21, growing up in the biggest MMA promotion, and developing into a championship fighter through constantly fighting high-level opposition. This Unique Career path would have seen most fighters wilt under the pressure. Instead, Holloway flourished, becoming one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Rise to contendership:
Max Holloway would enter the UFC at UFC 143 where he would face off against Dustin Poirier. Dustin would end up exploiting Holloway’s current grappling flaws to win by submission. Many would count Max out after this loss, claiming he’s still green and needs more experience outside the UFC. Holloway would go on to prove them wrong, attaining three consecutive wins including a second-round finish over Justin Lawrence.
After narrowly losing a split decision to Dennis Bermudez, Max would face off against the rising contender Conor McGregor. Whilst losing the bout, it was clear that both fighters would one day reach the pinnacle of the sport. Amassing a 9-win streak with wins against legends such as Cub Swanson, Jeremy Stephens, and Ricardo Lamas, would give Max his first chance to fight for gold.
At UFC 206, Max would have the chance to win a piece of the championship belt against the former lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis. This fight would see Max systematically breaking Pettis, achieving the finish in the closing seconds of the third round.
Techniques and strategies:
Holloway’s jab is the key that opens the door to his victories. Being a high-volume, pressure fighter, Max’s jab is his main tool to establish forward pressure. Using and doubling up the jab to back up his opponent, allows Max to better land his power shots. Once Max establishes his rhythm, he is able to mix his forward movement and jab with feints to land devastating kicks.
Unlike most fighters, Max does not show any tendencies of headhunting, preferring to mix his attacks to both head and body. Having an elite gas tank while also putting a focus on attritional damage, makes Max a dangerous force the deeper the fight goes. This was on full display when Max won the Interim Featherweight championship title against Anthony Pettis. Already having fears of gassing due to the big weight cut, Max’s fighting style flamed these fears.
Using his jab to hurt Pettis with a round body kick, Holloway swarmed to earn his finish. lacking one shot power that many of his comrades possess, Max’s fighting style revolves around maintaining a high output, which he pairs with a jab and combination work to earn his finishes.
Dethroning the king:
Going against The consensus Featherweight goat, Max Holloway would try to employ his usual high output mixed with forward pressure. Aldo’s quick reflexes mixed in with his counter striking made it difficult for Max to find his rhythm. Max’s dreams of unifying the belt would almost come up in flames after getting stunned by a massive left hook, momentarily stunning him.
Max would continue to struggle with Aldo’s counter striking in the beginning of the second round, getting caught with a mixture of overhands and rear uppercuts whilst jabbing. However, Aldo’s over reliance on reacting to every shot Max threw and overcommitting with full force on every counter opportunity, would prove to be extremely taxing on his gas tank. This was made apparent in the second half of round two, where Max was able to punish Aldo’s overcommitted counter.
As the third round approached, it was clear the momentum had swung to the favour of Max, openly mocking a tired Aldo to end the second round.
By the third round, Aldo’s fatigue allowed Max to openly pressure and employ his high volume of strikes. landing a 1–2, Aldo would attempt to answer with a laboured counter shot in which Max would punish with another 1–2, dropping Aldo and earning the finish to become a champion.
Trilogy for the P4P status:
Despite the fights between Alex Volkanovski and Max Holloway being regarded as the highest calibre of MMA between two P4P talents. The pre fight build up for their first outing would not garner much attention due to Volkanavski being being unknown to the wider audience at the time.
Alex would not let this deter him, utilising a game plan mainly revolved around step back calf kicks to neutralise Max. Mentioned previously, Max’s fighting style is built around his jab which is directly countered by the calf kick. To jab, one must plant their weight on their lead leg, leaving it vulnerable.
Using this strategy, Alex would turn Max’s biggest asset against him, comfortably winning a unanimous decision.
Going into their second fight, Max would display why he is one of the best talents to enter the sport through revamping his methods. Instead of entering on his jab, Max would utilise a more kick heavy approach, using kicks to pressure and enter into boxing range whilst also kicking with Volk. This would make it much harder for Alex to chop down on Holloway’s lead leg. Attaching kicks to the end of his combinations would allow Max to score easy damage on Volk. Using this tactic, Max was able to score a knockdown with a head kick to close out the first round.
Taking a bigger advantage of his height, Max would frequently attempt to counter Alex’s entries with uppercuts, leading to him scoring another knockdown in the second. Volk would start to mix up his game from the third, implementing more of his wrestling game. Max would end up losing this close fight by split decision leaving many confused by the scorecard and calling for a third fight.
Surprisingly, Max would not end up making any adjustments for the trilogy, fighting off the same gameplans plans used in his two previous outings with Volk. This would up being a huge detriment as Volk would showcase a big difference in their ability, handily winning every round. Most fans would come to the conclusion that Max’s previous wars have started to catch up with him and that his legendary chin would soon start to crack.
Current trajectory:
Following his trilogy with Alex, Max would defeat the up-and-coming British prospect, Arnold Allen, silencing some talk of his ability to perform at an elite level. Max is set to face off against the legend Chan Sung Jung (Korean Zombie), In a match-up most see as unnecessary due to the Zombie being past his best. It remains to see what trajectory Max’s career would go after this fight with Alex’s claws firmly planted on the featherweight championship. A move up to lightweight could breathe new life into Holloway’s career, offering new interesting matchups for fans. Max has shown signs of struggling to make the featherweight limit, and as he continues to age, these struggles will continue to worsen. Moving up to lightweight would not only allow Max to better make weight But also offer him the ability to become a UFC champion in a different division, further establishing his claim as one of the greatest fighters to exist.
