Max Holloway might have fought his last fight at 145 pounds.
The former featherweight champion had a chance to regain that title Saturday in the UFC 308 main event, but he instead suffered the first knockout loss of his storied career as he was defeated in the third round by Ilia Topuria.
Only two featherweights have scored wins over Holloway in the past decade, Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski, and Volkanovski was unable to finish Holloway despite the two battling for 75 minutes across three title fights. “Blessed” gave his take on the surprising finish at the evening’s post-fight press conference.
“I felt great,” Holloway said. “I was finding my groove. Saw it on the scoreboards after, I was kind of surprised, I thought I had at least one of them. The first round I know he took me down and at the end he had that takedown so, it is what it is, I felt good. Showing off my hands, I was landing, I was being fast, I think I had him surprised in there. Like I said, I was doing good until I wasn’t.”
“The first couple of rounds he landed a couple of left hooks,” Holloway added. “He took me down, he didn’t feel too strong, and you know, game of inches. Game of inches. He landed something that I found myself looking up from the ground.”
One thing Holloway wouldn’t do is blame the loss on a cut down to featherweight after competing at 155 pounds in his most recent bout. Holloway fought at lightweight in his most recent fight at UFC 300 this past April, when he won the “BMF” title in highlight-reel fashion after capping off a dominant performance against Justin Gaethje with a last-second knockout.
Even with the 145-pound weight cut still being manageable, Holloway thinks a return to lightweight could make sense going forward.
“I had the best ‘45 cut here, but what else is there to do?” Holloway said. “I had a couple of times to reclaim [the featherweight title], new guys coming up, that would be fun, but I think ‘55 looks more fun as fighting just more the caliber, everyone there and the names there, it would look really exciting to put my name in the mix.”
Holloway didn’t say who he’d like to fight at lightweight (when a third fight with Dustin Poirier was suggested, Holloway joked that he’d like to get one back but hasn’t had much luck against opponents who have already beaten him twice), but there are plenty of fan-friendly matchups that make sense for the 32-year-old veteran.
Whatever weight Holloway shows up at next, he doesn’t expect to fight again until mid-2025.
“We’ll sit down with the team, relax, there’s nothing needed to be rushing back right now,” Holloway said. “Probably try to come back summer, big July card in Vegas, do something, see what happens. [The 155-pound division] looks really good right now.”
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