I'm a big fan of Max Hollaway, but I'm concerned about his future. Here's why. (ghost of Tony Ferguson)

[Fedora Millionankles]

I'm a big fan of Max Holloway, but I'm concerned about his future. Here's why.

Although I don't talk about him as much, Max Holloway is easily one of my favorite fighters of all time. He's one of the FW GOATs and is a cool guy outside of the ring. I randomly think about him when I'm in the shower or in bed at night. I was pissed that he didn't beat Volkanovski in the rematches. His standup game is one of the best in the game... however, I am concerned about his future. Here's why.

Max Holloway has some 'holes in his game', such as lack of KO power, zero grappling offensive, mediocre fight IQ, etc. However, his biggest 'hole' by far is his huge amount of damage he takes every fight. Like Gaethje, he is a sponge. He takes way too much damage, very high mileage.

He's now 32. Unless he adjusts his fighting style, I see a Tony Ferguson type downfall with Max. Athleticism diminishes with age, especially at featherweight.

I'm going to try and hold back my tears come UFC 300 when he faces Justin Gaethje.

Please, Max... don't become the next Tony Ferguson.


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I randomly think about him when I'm in the shower or in bed at night.

Do you also think about Jones’ stinky fingers?

 

[Gabe]

Every fighter declines, most badly. It is what it is.

 

[blaseblase]

this is the worst kind of matchmaking you can set up, the worst kind of fight for both fighters. it does nothing to advance their status in their own divisions, and it only hurts your own product. in the off chance max wins, who cares? he can't beat any other top LWs, will not go up to LW, everyone loses to islam. if Gaethje wins, who cares? it does nothing to cement a title shot at LW, it does fuck all. and on top of that they both take damage, max will take even more so. the UFC has gone ass backwards with the pandemic. the new direction is terrible.

It's a great fight for Max. He's sitting around doing nothing waiting for Volk to lose. Might as well try to fight for a title in another division.

 

[Fight Professor]

Yeah, Justin is not a good match up. I wish Chandler was available instead.

 

[JoeRowe]

"Zero offensive grappling"

Tell that to Fili, Cub, Lamas, Yair, & Aldo

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

It's a great fight for Max. He's sitting around doing nothing waiting for Volk to lose. Might as well try to fight for a title in another division.

might as well as go up to a weight class he got whooped in previously by a dude who beat the dude that beat him, where even if he does win, he won't ever beat anyone else in the top 5, let alone the champ? it would have been far better to wait it out at FW and try again against an older volk, or topuria IMO.

 

[blaseblase]

might as well as go up to a weight class he got whooped in previously by a dude who beat the dude that beat him, where even if he does win, he won't ever beat anyone else in the top 5, let alone the champ? it would have been far better to wait it out at FW and try again against an older volk, or topuria IMO.

You are underrating Poirier for some reason, he knocked out Gaethje right before he fought Max if you're going to use MMA math.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

You are underrating Poirier for some reason, he knocked out Gaethje right before he fought Max if you're going to use MMA math.

but poirier is LW, acclimated, can deal with the damage, the hustle, the shots, etc. we all saw what max against DP. it wasn't good at all. and now he's facing an even scarier LW fresh off wins against fiziev and DP. what max gonna do? eat shots, look terrible.

 

[blaseblase]

but poirier is LW, acclimated, can deal with the damage, the hustle, the shots, etc. we all saw what max against DP. it wasn't good at all. and now he's facing an even scarier LW fresh off wins against fiziev and DP. what max gonna do? eat shots, look terrible.

We all saw what DP did to Gaethje 5 years ago, Max put up a much better fight. And Max can actually prepare properly this time instead of taking a short notice fight.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

We all saw what DP did to Gaethje 5 years ago, Max put up a much better fight. And Max can actually prepare properly this time instead of taking a short notice fight.

max got beat up, ragdolled, at no point in the fight looked like he actually belonged. and that was before when he was younger. he's even older now, and this is going to be an even worse beating. at no point was max in the DP fight. every shot you could see how impactful they were. this is a garbage fight.

 

[blaseblase]

max got beat up, ragdolled, at no point in the fight looked like he actually belonged. and that was before when he was younger. he's even older now, and this is going to be an even worse beating. at no point was max in the DP fight. every shot you could see how impactful they were. this is a garbage fight.

You need to rewatch the fight, Max took the 3rd and 4th rounds. He did much better than Gaethje, who got broken down and KO'd. This is a good matchup.

Losing a fight to Poirier 5 years ago doesn't imply Max can't compete at lightweight . Poirier was a beast, look at his resume, he was finishing all the contenders in the division.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

You need to rewatch the fight, Max took the 3rd and 4th rounds. He did much better than Gaethje, who got broken down and KO'd. This is a good matchup.

Losing a fight to Poirier 5 years ago doesn't imply Max can't compete at lightweight . Poirier was a beast, look at his resume, he was finishing all the contenders in the division.

he lost the fight, regardless if you think he won rounds against DP. this is a terrible match up, which does nothing for either fighter in their own divisions.

losing to dp 5 years ago is just that. he's not going to beat gaethje.

 

[dcthegod]

i was with you until the "i think about him in the shower and in bed at night" part. easy bud

but yes, im concerned, as well. he got rocked by zombie. im surprised at all the people giving him a chance against gaetje. i hope he gets out without too much damage

 

[Clark Rogers]

I randomly think about him when I'm in the shower or in bed at night.

 

[AbominableJoman]

Justin is going to destroy max. Easily. And max will never win another title

 

[Hazuki Ryo]

I'm not fan of his approach cause even if he hits the other guy a lot, he gets hits quite often in the process. As a fighter I'd rather have Khabib or machida's brain

 

[CedricBee]

Max Holloway has some 'holes in his game', such as lack of KO power, zero grappling offensive, mediocre fight IQ, etc. However, his biggest 'hole' by far is his huge amount of damage he takes every fight. Like Gaethje, he is a sponge. He takes way too much damage, very high mileage.

He's now 32. Unless he adjusts his fighting style, I see a Tony Ferguson type downfall with Max. Athleticism diminishes with age, especially at featherweight.

I'm going to try and hold back my tears come UFC 300 when he faces Justin Gaethje.

Please, Max... don't become the next Tony Ferguson.

Tony Ferguson never showed the striking skills that Max displayed against Katter and Ortega (save the 3rd round). They are two very different fighters with Max having much better footwork, technical striking, and distance management. Peep the segments against Ortega where Joe Rogan remarks “You never know when he’s coming or going …” … Ferg had to rely on pressure against the elite guys, whereas Max can move slight angles and overwhelm elite guys from outside or tight quarters (see Max vs Volk II where Max was the better striker from the outside or Max vs Yair where Max was better in tight quarters). Ferg loses to the Anthony Pettis until his pace & pressure overwhelmed them.

max got beat up, ragdolled, at no point in the fight looked like he actually belonged. and that was before when he was younger. he's even older now, and this is going to be an even worse beating. at no point was max in the DP fight. every shot you could see how impactful they were. this is a garbage fight.

That was closer to a FoTY contender than a one sided clinic. And Max was the favorite going into that fight (and the upset makes people remember it being more one sided than it was). Dustin hurt him but Max clearly won rounds 3 & 4 and was winning rounds 2 & 5 before he wasn’t. Basically Max may have out-landed Dustin who throws heavy output & has great cardio (except against Olivera).

 

[gosuasus]

At least Max Holloway is a balanced dude and not a right wing weasel.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

Tony and Diego were born with CTE though. Max definitely has taken his punishment but his baseline was far more grounded in reality than Tony ever was

 

[JoeRowe]

You need to rewatch the fight, Max took the 3rd and 4th rounds. He did much better than Gaethje, who got broken down and KO'd. This is a good matchup.

Losing a fight to Poirier 5 years ago doesn't imply Max can't compete at lightweight . Poirier was a beast, look at his resume, he was finishing all the contenders in the division.

Nah there's no way a 145er could have success at 155. Well except for Poirier. And Charles. Oh and Hooker. Well and Conor. I guess Moicano too. But other than that I'm CERTAIN it's impossible.