Max Holloway focused on winning, not ‘interim’ tag attached to fight with Anthony Pettis

This Saturday, in the main event of UFC 206 in Toronto, top ranked featherweight Max Holloway and former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will step into the Octagon in a highly anticipated showdown for the interim featherweight title.

While the fight was initially set as the co-main event of the pay-per view, the fight was promoted to the main event, and made an interim title fight after Conor McGregor ‘relinquished’ his featherweight title, and the UFC promoted Jose Aldo to the undisputed featherweight champion. As a result, the fight between Holloway & Pettis was promoted to the main event, and made to be an interim featherweight title fight.

In the eyes of many, a featherweight title fight for Holloway has been a long-time coming given that he is currently riding a 9-fight win streak. Ahead of his fight with Pettis, Holloway is focused on winning, and moving on to fight Jose Aldo for the undisputed featherweight championship.

He spoke to MMAJunkie:

“I’m a fighter. I want to fight,” Holloway said at today’s UFC 206 open workouts. “If you want to prove you’re the best in the world, why the (expletive) you being a crybaby? Don’t be (expletive) crying and (expletive) and this and that. I was willing to fight whoever. I’ll fight anybody, anywhere, any time, any place. It shows.

“If you believe you’re the best in the world you fight anybody, anywhere, any time. That’s one more stronger case for me when I get the belt. I’ve fought my last five guys, they’re all ranked in the top-five, top-seven. UFC is going to be scratching their heads like, ‘What the hell do we do with this guy with the belt? He fought all our contenders.’ That’s their problem to focus on. I’m going to focus on fighting and fighting only. It is what it is. That fight fell through, and here we are with Pettis.”

“Most people have been saying, ‘This is for the real belt, this should be the real belt,’” Holloway said. “It is what it is. I just look at it as my golden ticket. I get my belt. We know we’re going to fight next when we get the belt and it is what it is. Who cares? The belt is the belt, it’s great, it’s pretty, it’s beautiful; you get a nice pretty payday, too, so I ain’t complaining.”