Max Holloway not ruling out fight against Islam Makhachev with UFC 300 win: “That would be a fun one”

If Max Holloway can get through Justin Gaethje, he’s not opposed to a fight with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Later this month at UFC 300, ‘Blessed’ is slated to meet ‘The Highlight’ with ‘BMF’ gold on the line. The two stars will battle for five rounds over the ceremonial title. For Max Holloway, the fight will be a rare lightweight appearance up from featherweight. Many assumed that the Hawaiian would likely return to 145 pounds after this month.

However, that’s far from set in stone. During a recent interview with Kevin Iole, Max Holloway discussed his future. There, the former featherweight champion admitted that he is interested in a potential fight with Islam Makhachev. The current UFC lightweight titleholder last defeated Alexander Volkanovski by first-round knockout in October.

While Islam Makhachev has been linked to a title fight with Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway believes he could be next as well. There’s no doubt that the featherweight would be put near the top of the division with a victory over Justin Gaethje later this month. Much like ‘Blessed’, ‘The Highlight’ has spoken of a potential title shot with a win.

However, Max Holloway also acknowledged that there’s no shortage of fights for him to take next. While Islam Makhachev would be fun, he’s also no longer locked out of featherweight title contention. With Ilia Topuria’s win over Alexander Volkanovski in February, there are a lot of fun fights for Holloway with a win.

RELATED: MARK COLEMAN CONFIRMS PLANS TO ATTEND UFC 300 AFTER MAX HOLLOWAY’S REQUEST: “THE UFC IS BRINGING ME IN”

Max Holloway confirms interest in fight with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev

“I believe things happen for a reason.” Max Holloway stated in the interview, discussing his UFC future. “At the end of the day, I’m in a situation or I’m in a place where first thing’s first is Gaethje. But i I can go out there and get my hand raised like we plan on doing, there’s a lot of fights that can be there. One of them is the 155 pound champ, which I think that would be a fun one. So at the end of the day, I ain’t got no regrets.”

He continued, “Everything happens for a reason. Stuff falls through all the time, but I’m still on this path to [the championship]. That’s why I’m still here today.”

While Max Holloway has no shortage of options for his next fight, the same can be said for Islam Makhachev. Beyond ‘Blessed’ and Justin Gaethje, he’s been linked to a title defense against Dustin Poirier. Furthermore, Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan have both shown interest in facing Makhachev after UFC 300 as well.

What do you make of these comments? Do you have any interest in seeing Max Holloway vs. Islam Makhachev?