Alexander Volkanovski suggest Max Holloway might be “scared” of trilogy fight against him

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski suggested that Max Holloway might be “scared” of a trilogy fight against him.

Volkanovski fought Holloway on Fight Island last year in a rematch and won a controversial split decision to keep his belt. Many people who watched that fight felt that Holloway did enough to win it, but Volkanovski got the judges’ decision to move to 2-0 against Holloway. Since then, Holloway has beaten both Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez by decision and he seems to be the next man up for a title shot at 145lbs. However, following Holloway’s recent win over Rodriguez, he also mentioned Charles Oliveira and Conor McGregor as potential opponents, though most fans thought he would target Volkanovski specifically.

For Volkanovski, it’s surprising that Holloway hasn’t been more adamant about fighting him, and he suggested the reason for that is because Holloway might be “scared” of losing.

“Max? We know what’s next. Leading into this fight, the winner was going to get the title shot, whether it was Max or Yair. UFC said that to us. We were waiting on it. I’m sure the UFC said it to Max. So green light from the UFC on the trilogy, green light from me, but the only one that’s talking about other options is Max Holloway,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel (via MMAjunkie.com). “So this might rattle a few feathers, but I’m gonna leave you with this: Am I saying he’s scared? Maybe. But I want you to hear me out. For Max, this is a big deal. You fight me again and lose and go 0-3 against me in the featherweight division, in your prime, you talk about legacy, your name isn’t in the GOAT conversation anymore. It’s in GOAT conversations now, even though he’s 0-2 against me. People are still throwing his name in the GOAT conversation. If he loses again, we know no more. Your legacy in the featherweight division, tarnished. Let’s be real, 0-3 in your prime. That doesn’t look good. Maybe that’s what it is. Maybe he wants bigger options, money fights because he could still have his legacy talks, get some money fights. But if he loses, that tarnishes that legacy.”

Do you agree with Alexander Volkanovski that Max Holloway might be scared to lose to him a third time and tarnish his legacy at 145lbs?