Max Holloway ready to move past controversial loss, add to legacy

Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway poses during a weigh-in. (Chris Young/CP)

Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has lost three of his past four fights, including back-to-back five-round decisions to current titleholder Alexander Volkanovski.

However, anyone who thinks this slump has tarnished Holloway’s legacy might want to recalibrate that opinion – especially considering the second Volkanovski loss was a contentious split decision at UFC 251 in July that many fans flat out called a robbery.

“I’ve got five title wins and no one ever is going to ever take that away from me and that’s how we measure greatness in the long run, not who won the last (expletive) match,” Holloway said Friday during an appearance on Good Show. “Our sport just loves to focus on the now but at the end of the day I just turned 29 and we still have time so I ain’t too worried.”

Holloway will look to get back on the winning track in his UFC Fight Night main event bout against Calvin Kattar, which is scheduled for Jan. 16 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Holloway remains the No. 1-ranked contender in the UFC’s 145-pound men’s division, while Kattar climbed up to the No. 6 spot in 2020 after earning impressive wins over Jeremy Stephens and Dan Ige.

It’s conceivable the UFC will look to book a Holloway-Volkanovski trilogy bout should the Hawaiian emerge victorious over Katter.

UFC president Dana White, who was critical of the judges in Holloway’s UFC 251 loss, said this past summer he could see Volkanovski being hesitant to agree to a third fight with Holloway considering he's 2-0 in that rivalry.

Brian Ortega, Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez are also among the top-ranked featherweight contenders currently in the title conversation.

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