Max Holloway is one of the UFC's most popular fighters and has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest featherweight fighters of all time. However, his time as a featherweight is coming to an end Holloway announced this on his YouTube channel that he is moving to the lightweight division full-time.
The news comes on the heels of Holloway suffering from an illness TKO loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in an attempt to regain the 145-pound championship. The fight with Topuria was also the first time Holloway was stopped in his professional career – and the first time he suffered a knockdown.
“This is like my phoenix moment, from the Ashes we are reborn,” Holloway said. “We are looking for bigger, better things, walking through a new door and starting a new chapter. I'm a big proponent of “never say never,” and the big question now is, “Was that your last fight at 145?” You saw me bring it up in the press conference and I can honestly say that I'm done with 145. Your boy is just getting older.”
Holloway, who turns 33 on Dec. 4, said he had no problem cutting weight for the Topuria fight but is looking forward to not missing out on certain foods during fight camp since he's now weighing in at 155 pounds will start.
“I had to give up ramen [145-pound] “I'm done with this – I never want to go without ramen again.” 155, here we come and 155 is the place I want to stay. This is a new chapter. This is where we start. This is where we start. I can barely wait for it. … I can honestly look you in the eyes and tell you that I will probably never get back to 145 again.”
Holloway won the interim featherweight championship at UFC 206 in December 2016 with a TKO victory over Antony Pettis. He followed that up with a TKO victory over then-champion Jose Aldo in June 2017 to unify the titles.
Holloway defended the belt three times, losing once, to win the interim lightweight title against Dustin Poirier in April 2019.
Alexander Volkanovski won the title from Holloway in December 2019 and went on to win two rematches with Holloway. Despite the losses to Volkanovski, Holloway remained relevant in the division by consistently beating other top challengers, eventually earning another shot at the belt when Topuria took the strap from Volkanovski.
“I love what I did,” Holloway said of his time at featherweight. “I did what I did. I did what I had to do there. I worked my way back, I fought for the championship there several times. I was a champion. I defended with that weight. Now it's time to move on.” Moving on to the next chapter, and 155, there are a lot of fun fights that I can't wait for.”
Holloway's most recent victory came at lightweight when he defeated Justin Gaethje for the ceremonial “BMF” championship, knocking Gaethje out in literally the last second of their five-round bout.
There are a lot of big names at 155 and Holloway will look to make a splash in some big fights in his new division.
