You get the feeling every time Max Holloway fights, he will be forced to field questions about Conor McGregor.
12 successive victories ago, a 21-year-old Max Holloway lost a unanimous decision to a 25-year-old Conor McGregor on the preliminary card of a UFC Fight Night event.
McGregor fought with a blown ACL for most of the fight, an injury that kept him out of action for a year. Holloway claims that he too fought the Dubliner with an injured foot.
Regardless of what happened the first time they met, if a rematch were to happen, it would look like a completely different affair. Holloway is edging towards being considered the greatest 145 lb fighter of all time while McGregor is the current lightweight champion and is undoubtedly the biggest superstar the sport has ever seen.
I miss those sunglasses. pic.twitter.com/0fa7U9dM4Y
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 3, 2017
For whatever reason, McGregor felt compelled to fire that message Holloway’s way after ‘Blessed’s second successive featherweight title fight knockout win over Jose Aldo at UFC 218. Holloway sent another straight back at ‘the Notorious,’ an action he spoke about on Monday’s MMA Hour.
“You know (laughs) when a bully pulls your hair, you punch ’em in the face. That’s what you do. It’s funny! The guy’s funny! I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m on his mind, apparently.”
Although he saw the funny side of McGregor’s tweet, he sees his responsibilities as champion as no joke. In his mind, it’s his duty to keep defending that coveted golden strap, especially considering the route he took to the belt.
“Like I told you guys, I’m a champion. We just brang the order back into a division. I’m trying to think of our division and the respect of the other fighters. It took me 10 damn fights to get an interim damn title shot and the 11 to get an undisputed shot. It’s my job, it’s my duty to make sure everything runs smoothly. I’ve got to respect our sport, our division, the other guys who‘s fighting for it and that’s what I’ve got to do.”
“But, at the end of the day, this guy’s yapping his mouth, keep talking – you guys know me, I always want to fight the best of the best and this guy got a win over me when we were kids in a fight night show, I think the main event was Sonnen and Shogun Rua – I don’t even know if two of them is in the UFC anymore. Me and him made 12k that night and I think he’s happy holding onto that. That’s the type of person he is.”
Dana White also addressed it https://t.co/xUAr7qIKxw
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 4, 2017
Holloway revealed on the show that he was asked about a potential rematch with McGregor at lightweight when he was working out his new deal with the promotion. However, after seeing him fail to defend two championships, take a break from the sport to book a boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather and then suggest an MMA bout with Paulie Malignaggi, he was sceptical.
“They asked me about Conor at 155 when I was sitting down about my new contract, but I heard he was trying to do Paulie Malignaggi in MMA. I hope you guys let that one sink in because I don’t know what else you want me to say. That’s just him. He holds his head high over that win, I would never.”
“Look what I did. I fought what people consider the greatest of all time and I gave him his straight damn rematch. I didn’t care. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best and the best is Blessed, baby. Tell him I’ll be waiting.”
He’s not wrong. Right now, Holloway is the best featherweight on planet Earth. With serious doubts over McGregor’s ability to make that cut anymore, the rematch, if it were to ever happen, would likely be at 155 lbs.
