Max Holloway speculates why Alex Volkanovski didn’t get title shot

By Tom Taylor - May 28, 2019

When Alex Volkanovski defeated featherweight legend Jose Aldo by decision at UFC 237 in Brazil, many fans expected him to be rewarded with a title shot against reigning champ Max Holloway.

Max Holloway

This was not the case.

Instead, the UFC offered the next featherweight title shot to former lightweight champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar.

Max Holloway suspects that’s because the promotion was hoping to see a little more from Alex Volkanovski at UFC 237. UFC title shots, after all, can be a difficult thing to earn. Holloway learned that the hard way himself.

“The UFC was holding off for that Alex and Jose fight and I think they wanted to see something more, I don’t know,” Holloway told the media assembled at Tactical Strength and Conditioning on Monday (via Hawaii News Now). “Maybe they put him in the oven to let him bake a little more for me. Look at what I had to do, you know? I had to bake in the oven for a bit. I think they had the temperature on at about 200 (degrees) or something. It is what it is. I can’t wait. If that’s the guy and that’s the date, that’s the date. But first things first: We got ‘The Answer’ and I got a bunch of questions so I can’t wait.

“He’s one of those guys at the end of my career, I wanna be like ‘hey, I got to fight him; I got to face him. I got to look at him across the Octagon,’” Holloway added, sharing his excitement with the prospect of fighting Frankie Edgar. “I’m excited for the challenge.”

Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar have been scheduled to fight twice previously, but the bout has yet to become a reality. The champ is hoping it will stick this time around.

“Third time’s the charm, I think,” he said. “Why not do it, go back to the 10th island? They got great things going on right now with the (Toronto) Raptors and stuff. Gonna use that flow and use that energy. I can’t wait. I’m grateful. I’m finally happy that we get this Frankie fight. He’s a legend.”

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 5/28/2019.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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