Max Holloway has revealed that he’ll fight in other weight divisions in order to become the best UFC fighter in the world.
The 28-year-old has won thirteen consecutive fights and is the current UFC featherweight champion. His last loss at featherweight was against Conor McGregor in 2013.
Big Ambitions
But Holloway has bigger ambitions than dominating just one division and has admitted that he must leave featherweight if he is to achieve his long-term goals.
Holloway expressed his desire to become the best in the world and talked about needing to conquer other divisions if he is to fulfil his goals, mentioning Khabib Nurmagomedov in the process.
Speaking in a UFC media lunch (MMA Fighting), he said: “I want to be the best mixed martial artist in the world and being the best mixed martial artist in the world is not a guy who stays in his weight and dominates his weight,”
“It is someone who goes to whatever weight. So whoever is the best guys in the world, you guys tell me.”
“I’ve got a couple belts I want to fight for.”
“The [lightweight], of course.”
“You’ve got Khabib, because he’s one of the best guys in the world.”
Domination
Holloway is set to compete in his fourth title defence against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245 on December 14.
The Hawaiian made his first venture into another weight class earlier this year when he lost on points to Dustin Poirier.
But despite the lightweight defeat Holloway still believes he can dominate multiple weight classes, suggesting he could compete as high as middleweight. He said: “I don’t know about holding belts all at one time,”
“But nobody has gotten three at one time. I just turned 28. I can see myself to even getting to 185 and being healthy and getting strong there.”
“We’ll see what happens,”
“I don’t know. A king defends his throne and my throne is here at ’45. But if there’s an opportunity at ’55, why not?”
“If it’s defending or fighting for belts, whatever. It’s not even the belts that intrigue me. It’s being the best martial artist in the world that intrigues me.”
“So whoever you think is the best guy, let me fight him. Let me at him. The belt is just the topping, the cherry on top.”
Staying Focused
Holloway was eager to stress that despite his long-term ambitions, his primary focus is Volkanovski: “First thing first is Alex.”
“And if the opportunity presents itself, I’m not backing down from it. I want to be one of the greatest in this era.”
“As long as I’m alive and as long as I fight, whenever I’m fighting I want people to talk about, ‘Oh, man, he’s one of the greatest of his time.'”
“That’s what I want to do. First things first, Alex is a handful. I can’t be overlooking this guy. Most of the time, when guys overlook guys we see what happens.”
Holloway has now held a belt in featherweight since 2016. If he successfully defends it once more against the Australian then surely his next move will be to go up a division.
(Feature image source: Instagram/ Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov)