Would Max Holloway have beaten Tony Ferguson at UFC 236?

[svmr_db]

Ferguson was originally offered to fight Holloway for the interim belt at UFC 236, but turned it down only to fight Cowboy 2 months later.

Knowing what we know now, after Tony's last 2 losses, and also that Cowboy & Pettis were already pretty washed up by the time Tony beat them... how would Max Holloway have done against Tony if that fight took place in April 2019?

 

[Deleted member 545701]

Oh obviously. Now since Tony has lost his last 2 fights, he is 100% guaranteed to lose EVERY hypothetical match up he was ever involved in, including the Chiesa fight, Khabib fight, McGregor fight, and Holloway fight.

That's how the MMA fanbase works.

 

[SakurabasEar]

Idk, when he fights somebody at or closer to his size his whole game seems off.

 

[TheMessiah]

Nope. Max can't hang with the bigger guys

 

[JosephTessaro]

I think Tony would have won. But now that Tony has lost 2 in a row he will be considered overrated and should go to Bellator.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Nope Ferg would have beat him

 

[Kono dio da!]

Max is smart.

 

[TripTictonic]

The recency bias on here will tell you that Tony has always sucked and never beat anyone good, but no I don’t think Max would have. I always thought an in form Tony was a bad matchup for Max. Max is basically a smaller Tony, with better boxing fundamentals. Tony is bigger, more diverse has the grappling advantage and hits harder overall. They both weaponize their pace, conditioning and durability against opponents. Max provided no take down/grappling threat to Tony and I don’t think he would have had the size and power to get Tony off of him. Max is great, but his recent fights have been getting over powered by Dustin, coasting to a win against a washed up small Frankie and getting shut down by Volk over 5 rounds. I have a hard time seeing him move up and just beating up Tony over 5 rounds. Especially the Tony that disfigured a streaking Cowboy who was fighting pretty well at the time and coming off several ranked wins.

 

[13Seconds]

I think Max should give 155 another go. Dustin is a terrible style matchup for him. And he still looked alright.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

Max wouldn't hurt Tony or tire him. He wouldn't take him down and hold him down, and he wouldn't sub him.

He may outpoint him, but I kinda doubt it.

For Max's first fight at LW, I think Tony hurt Max, Cowboy-like. It just takes longer, because Max has better footwork and fights at range, and is tough. 4th round TKO.

But hey, who knows.

 

[13Seconds]

Idk, when he fights somebody at or closer to his size his whole game seems off.

Idk man i thought he looked good vs Dustin. Aside from the first round where he got destroyed, he still made it a good fight. His cardio and chin held up vs Dustin and he took a round or two.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Doesn't matter what we think but Tony obviously didn't have enough confidence in himself to take it....

 

[jx820]

At the time a absolutely would have picked Tony, but in hind sight, it's tough to say. Physical strength was Porier's biggest advantage in the Holloway fight, and Tony's not all that strong for the weight class, Tony has also showed that clean aggressive boxing was a problem against Gathje, but then Holloway doens't have Gathje's power.

So the short answer is... who knows?

 

[G10]

I think Max should give 155 another go. Dustin is a terrible style matchup for him. And he still looked alright.

Agreed. Plus, it seems that there is still a much needed adjustment period for fighters changing weight. They can't just decide to not cut 10 extra pounds and leave it at that. If Holloway actually stayed at 155 and fought a couple more times, I think he would be in much better shape in a possible Poirier rematch.

 

[Beherit]

why do you think he refused to fight him ? but accepted cowboy 2 weeks later ... Max beat the shit out of him

 

[TripTictonic]

Ferguson was originally offered to fight Holloway for the interim belt at UFC 236, but turned it down only to fight Cowboy 2 months later.

Knowing what we know now, after Tony's last 2 losses, and also that Cowboy & Pettis were already pretty washed up by the time Tony beat them... how would Max Holloway have done against Tony if that fight took place in April 2019?

Pettis was only 31 and was coming off recent wins of Chiesa and Oliviera, a competitive fight with Dustin and KO’d Wonderboy right after losing to Tony.

Same with Cowboy. He was ranked #4 coming off several ranked wins. He had just made very light work of #10 Hernandez and picked apart #6 Laquinta, looking like vintage Cowboy. Many people even gave him the nickname “Dad Cowboy” because how well he was fighting at the time and many on here were picking him to beat Tony. That fight was actually a title eliminator. Meanwhile, Max hardly inflicted any significant damage on an elderly Frankie who fights at BW now...

I get that their recent records aren’t great, but this narrative that these guys were totally washed when Tony fought them seems to be overly exaggerated.

 

[BangBang]

I think Max should give 155 another go. Dustin is a terrible style matchup for him. And he still looked alright.

And was underpowered against DP. Wasn't a fair fight in my opinion, yet testament to Max he took Dustin into deep waters.

Maybe if he focused on filling that frame of his, sure he could contend at LW. He's a championship calibre fighter and no point moving up if he is not going to do it properly.

 

[El Fernas]

Cant really know, but thats a fight i still want to watch, i would give decent chances to Max but i think he doesnt have to power to hurt Tony like Gaethje did.

 

[D'z]

"The world may never know" -Old School Tootsie Pop commercial

 

[humdizzle]

it would be a fun fight. both on 2 fight losing skids.

tony is good. but he just can't compete with the top strikers or the top grapplers. luckily max has pillow fists, relies on volume, and doesn't like going to the ground. perfect for tony.