Max Holloway confirms interest in Islam Makhachev fight following UFC 308: “I want all the smoke”
UFC featherweight contender Max Holloway has his eyes on lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
This Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, ‘Blessed’ will make the walk to the cage once again. Back for the first time since an April knockout over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, Max Holloway will meet Ilia Topuria. For his part, ‘El Matador’ claimed the featherweight gold with a stunning stoppage win over Alexander Volkanovski in February.
Speaking in a recent interview with Demetrious Johnson, Max Holloway discussed his UFC 308 title fight. There, the Hawaiian was asked about his decision to return to featherweight after beating ‘The Highlight’ earlier this year. According to Holloway, the return to 145 pounds could actually be temporary.
In the interview, Max Holloway showed interest in a fight with lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev. While ‘Blessed’ was interested in facing off with the Russian following his April win, the latter wasn’t as receptive to the idea. However, Makhachev has backtracked in recent months, stating that he could fight Holloway if he wins on Saturday.
Max Holloway teases future showdown against Islam Makhachev ahead of UFC 308 return
In the interview, the featherweight confirmed that he could fight Islam Makhachev next year. For Max Holloway, a possible bout with the lightweight champion would also be the closest he could get to a hypothetical Khabib Nurmagomedov matchup. The Hawaiian was famously booked against ‘The Eagle’ in April 2018 but was forced out on weigh-in day.
“You have to do great things.” Max Holloway stated in the interview, ahead of his UFC 308 return. “We had that fight booked with Khabib a while back, and Islam is like Khabib 2.0. So I want all the taste, I want all the smoke. It would be an honor to fight that guy, as I’m trying to etch my name into the history books. But like you said, first things first, Ilia.”
He continued, “But if I had my choice, why not? Why not be able to fight Islam? Islam never wanted to fight me even when I was saying I was coming up to 155 after fighting [Justin Gaethje], the guy he was supposed to fight next. He kept saying ‘I don’t know why I’d fight him’. But recently, his tone changed… Okay, that’s all we needed. We just needed that little crack in the door brother.”
What do you make of these comments from the UFC featherweight legend? Do you want to see Max Holloway vs. Islam Makhachev?
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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