Of all of the epic moments in Max Holloway’s blended martial arts profession, beating the ‘King of Rio’ on his residence turf tops the listing.
In a matter of hours, ‘Blessed’ will try to create one other memorable second when he headlines UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, difficult the promotion’s reigning and defending featherweight world champion, Ilia Topuria. Will probably be Holloway’s tenth title combat below the UFC banner, however even when he recaptures gold within the UAE, it gained’t high the sensation of beating maybe the best featherweight the game has ever seen.
“It means lots. There’s a saying I at all times heard: practice until your idols develop into your rivals,” Holloway stated in an interview with TNT Sports activities. Jose Aldo was an idol, even after our fights. There’s no higher feeling than preventing the King of Rio in Rio and doing what I did.
“I bear in mind after the combat, there was not one sound within the viewers. Simply silence. This shall be my primary MMA second, it doesn’t matter what.”
Regardless of underdog standing, Max Holloway is decided to kickstart a brand new title reign at UFC 308
Holloway unified the interim and undisputed featherweight titles in opposition to Aldo in Rio de Janeiro at UFC 212 on June 3, 2017. He would go on to defend the title thrice, besting ‘Junior’ in a rematch earlier than scoring wins in opposition to Brian Ortega and Frankie Edgar.
He later dropped the belt in opposition to Alexander Volkanovski however has by no means strayed very removed from the title image. In April, Holloway delivered yet one more iconic Octagon second when he scored a buzzer-beating KO in opposition to Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 to win the BMF title.
‘Blessed’ will try to do what no man has been capable of to date and hand Topuria his first profession loss. To this point, ‘El Matador’ is an ideal 15-0 and is an nearly 3-to-1 favourite to return out on high in opposition to Holloway at Etihad Area.
