Max “Blessed” Holloway fights in the UFC’s Featherweight division. He is a native of Waianae, Hawaii and is the youngest fighter in the promotion’s history to have four wins in a year, and hopefully, he isn’t done yet.
Holloway started training right out of High School, which he graduated in 2010, no, that wasn’t a typo he graduated four years ago. He currently trains out of Hawaii Elite MMA and Gracie Technics Honolulu under Rylan Lizares and Ivan Flores.
In his young career he has amassed an impressive 11-3 record. The three losses come from his fights with Dustin Poirier, Dennis Bermudez, and Conor Mcgregor. In two out of the three losses he was a last minute replacement for injured fighters, and managed to take McGregor the distance, a feat which no other UFC Featherweight has been able to accomplish.
2014 has been an amazing year for the young fighter seeing him get four wins straight, most recently his absolute destruction of Akira Corassani at UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs Story.
I had the opportunity to talk to this fine young fighter about his fantastic year, learning to sit down on his punches to finish fights, and why he hopes Conor gives him another shot.
Aaron Robbins: Max you are on the proverbial tear, how does it feel to be the youngest fighter in UFC history to have four wins in a year?
Max Holloway: “It feels great. It feels great to be on a winning streak. Hopefully I can squeeze one more in by the end of the year, and keep climbing that ladder.”
AR: It’s a contrast from the obstacles you faced in 2013, how have you changed things around so drastically?
MH: “Everything is a learning experience. Like you said, last year wasn’t the greatest year, but I didn’t kick myself. I didn’t hang my head low, or be a sad kid. I knew what we had to do. We went to the gym, added some stuff in, took some stuff out, and the outcome is 2014. It’s been a great year. I have no complaints.”
AR: You’ve been quoted as saying a lot of what changed this year is your style. Would you like to expand on that?
MH: “It was a lot of stuff. I was cutting corners. I was taking out some stuff that I think I needed like strength and conditioning stuff. Some classes that I didn’t think I needed got taken out. So what happened is I stopped cutting corners and added in what I was missing and the results have been amazing. I have a great coaching staff over at Gracie Technics, Hawaii Elite, and Legacy Muay Thai; I also have a dedicated strength and conditioning coach. We are all working for the goal. They put me first and we have figured out what we need to do to be successful.”
AR: Your increased punching power was on display against Akira Corassani. Have you been focusing on sitting down on your punches to deliver more power?
MH: “For sure, yes. That was one of the main things we have focused on. I think I’m third or fourth for overall punches per minute in my division or something like that. That’s a cool statistic to have, but at the end of the day it’s better to have that one punch knock-out power. I’ve been working crazy at it this whole year. I’ve been trying to develop more power; most of the finishes I’ve gotten this year have started from some big punches or kicks. The difference has been showing.”
AR: No doubt. I heard that you felt the fight against Corassani may have gone on a bit longer than needed. Could you touch on that please?
MH: “Yeah, I counted 7 in my head at the end of the fight. When I dropped him and went in to secure the win, I felt like maybe he wasn’t all there. I didn’t realize he was already out of it until I watched the replay. I may have been able to walk away and get the TKO finish, but they say don’t stop until the ref jumps in. So when I went down after him I was thinking it would take about three punches, so I threw three, but I didn’t get stopped. I kept going thinking what is taking so long, but at the end of the day sometimes the ref calls it early and people complain. In other cases the ref calls it late and people complain, so it’s hard to find that medium. If I’m the one getting punched I would rather that it go on a little longer than maybe it should because then I can’t get up and complain about it. It’s the worst feeling in the world having an early stoppage against you where you feel like you could’ve come back from it. That’s the way I look at.”
AR: With that in mind I think it’s important for fans to know that fighters are aware of what they are doing. At the end of the day you were doing your job.
MH: “For sure. This is how we make a living. I don’t ever go in there thinking I’m going to hurt this guy, like I’m going to snap his arm, or break his jaw. This is my job, the only way we get paid is when we step in the octagon and perform. I meet the nicest people in MMA. We’re not just chickens put in a cage trying to kill each other, it’s just a sport.”
AR: Now that you have figured out what works for you, would you like to another chance at Poirier, Bermudez, or McGregor?
MH: “I lost to them; I have no excuses, but yeah. I would like to get a win over them. I would like to fight Poirier again to see what happens after the first round. With the Bermudez fight a lot of people thought I won that fight, but it is what it is. I’m the only guy to take McGregor to a decision. A lot of people point out that he hurt his knee. He hurt his knee with one minute left in the second round. He was passing my guard, and I popped his knee. I would love to have that one back because no one knows, but I got injured too. I got hurt in the first 30 seconds of the round. I kicked him in his knee and then again in his elbow. After the fight I found out from the doctors that I had a high-ankle sprain. McGregor is talking about how he finishes everybody in the first round, but he couldn’t do that to me.
“That’s the one fight I would like to get back the most. I didn’t get to show anything against McGregor. I was injured more or less the entire fight, but I didn’t cry or complain about it. The first thing he said in the mic after the fight was that he was hurt. That really bothered me. He seems to be calling out everybody in the division. I took him to decision with a bad leg, I would really like to see what would happen if we were both healthy. People told me it was an exciting fight, but I think the second time it would be a way more exciting fight.”
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