Max Halloway wanted another shot at Alex Volkanovsky and believes he’s the best in the world at 145.
Max Holloway is at a crossroads in his stories UFC career. The former Featherweight Champion is trying to find a way back to the title.
He lost the featherweight title to Volkanovski by unanimous decision at UFC 245 on Dec. 14, 2019. He unsuccessfully challenged Volkanovski twice, with the most recent loss via a unanimous decision at UFC 276 on July 2, 2022. He’s beaten top-ranked opponents such as Yair Rodriguez, but it seems Volk has his number.
The ‘Blessed’ still wants another (fourth) crack at Volkanovski, but that might not be in the cards. Despite intrigue in seeing Max Halloway move to lightweight, he’ll remain at featherweight when he battles Arnold Allen at UFC Fight Night 223 on April 15.
When the featherweight title holder fought Islam Machachev for the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 284 on Feb. 11, the company decided to have an interim featherweight title fight between Rodriguez and Josh Emmett on the same card.
Rodriguez won the UFC Interim Featherweight Championship and is expected to fight Volkanovski to unify the titles at UFC 290 on July 8.
Max Halloway on Getting Ignored For an Interim Title Fight
Max Halloway spoke with former UFC women’s featherweight Megan Anderson about how he felt about the company ignoring him for an interim title fight, especially since he beat Rodriguez. He’s expressed disappointment but doesn’t understand why fans don’t believe he can fight Volkanovski for a fourth time.
“It is what it is. I mean, people are already saying what they’re saying. It happens, and all I can do is fight, and all I can do is control the win,” said Holloway. He continued, “A lot of people they keep talking this, and that and a lot of people are confused ‘oh we don’t see how you can get an Alex [fourth fight]’, but I’m like, “Look, if people really felt that way if the UFC felt that way they would’ve forced my hand to go up in a weight class, but they know what I want to do.’
I stick with, ‘I believe that I’m the best 145er in the world. I believe I’m the best fighter in the world’ and that’s the type of mentality you need in the sport. If you are not thinking that or believing that, then you might as well retire.”
Max Halloway will try to rebound from his loss to Volkanovski at UFC 276 with a win over Allen on April 15. If he leaves UFC Fight Night 223 victorious, it’s unclear if he will need to get a couple more wins in the division to get another chance to become a featherweight title challenger.