Max Holloway is one of the UFC’s most popular fighters and cemented a legacy as one of the greatest featherweight fighters of all-time. His time as a featherweight is at a close, however, as Holloway announced on his YouTube channel that he is making a full-time move to the lightweight division.
The news comes on the heels of Holloway suffering a TKO loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in a bid to regain the 145-pound championship. The fight with Topuria was also the first time Holloway had been stopped in his professional career — and the first time he had ever suffered a knockdown.
“This is like my phoenix moment, from the ashes we’re reborn,” Holloway said. “We’re on to bigger, better stuff and walking through a new door and starting a new chapter. I’m a big believer in never say never, and the big question now is, ‘Was that your last fight at 145?’ You guys saw me touch upon it in the press conference, and I can honestly say I think I’m done with 145. Your boy is only getting older.”
Holloway, who will turn 33 on Dec. 4, said he had no problem with his weight cut for the Topuria fight, but is looking forward to not give up certain foods during fight camps now that he’ll be campaigning at 155 pounds.
“I had to give up ramen for my [145-pound] camps,” Holloway said. “I’m done with that — I don’t ever want to give up ramen again. 155, here we come and 155 is where I want to stay. This is a new chapter. This is where we start. This is where we begin. I cannot wait. … I can honestly look you guys in the eye and tell you guys I’m probably not ever going back to 145.”
Holloway won the interim featherweight championship at UFC 206 in December 2016 with a TKO win over Antony Pettis. He followed that up with a June 2017 TKO win over then-champion Jose Aldo to unify the titles.
Holloway would make three defenses of the belt, losing once during that stretch in a bid to win the interim lightweight title against Dustin Poirier in April 2019.
Alexander Volkanovski won the title from Holloway in December 2019 and would win two rematches with Holloway after. Despite the losses to Volkanovski, Holloway remained relevant in the division by constantly beating other top challengers and finally got another crack at the belt once Topuria took the strap from Volkanovski.
“I love what I did,” Holloway said of his time in the featherweight division. “I did what I did. I did what I had to do there. I worked my way back, I clawed my back to the championship fight multiple times there. I was a champion. I defended at that weight. Now it’s time to move on to the next chapter, and 155 there’s a bunch of fun fights that I cannot wait to take.”
Holloway’s most recent win came at lightweight, when he defeated Justin Gaethje in a bout for the ceremonial “BMF” championship, knocking out Gaethje in the literal final second of their five-round fight.
There are plenty of big names at 155 and Holloway will be looking to make a splash in some marquee fights in his new division.
