"Max looks worse than usual" No, you just have recency bias from the Kattar fight.

[achoo42]

Max eats a ton of shots in nearly every fight he takes. He has one of the highest number of significant strikes absorbed per minute in UFC history. Just because he was dominant against Kattar doesn't mean he's dominant against every guy he fights.

So no, he didn't look worse today. He has always been hittable by strong strikers—he relies on his insane chin and endurance to tank shots and counter.

Give credit to Yair for being a creative and unpredictable striker instead of saying "Max looked off" or something idiotic like that. And of course Max still conclusively won the fight which just goes to show that he can adapt to his opponent's strengths.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Amazing how a fighter can go from "performance of a lifetime!" to "old, slow, needs to retire" in just one fight.

 

[AB234]

Yeah, Max looked good but Yair was equipt for war. I find this fight to be more of a test for Yair than a failure for Max. We see now that Yair is still growing. He exceeded the expectations of everyone. His star is rising and we haven't seen his prime yet.

Max is still prime, but for how much longer? He's taken so much damage in his career.

 

[Satan's Daddy.]

Both of their portfolios went up today after their performances that's for certain.

 

[Arkham's Notorious Geyser]

Yeah It's really kind of distasteful to say Max had an off night instead of recognizing that Yair is a good striker in his own right whose had 2 years to improve and TONS of time to gameplan for Max Holloway whose KNOWN for being a volume puncher.

Fights getting postponed goes both ways in the sense that it gives both camps more time to focus on their gameplan. Yair has been inactive for 2 YEARS giving Max and his camp NO recent footage to look at and gauge how he's improving from fight to fight whereas Yair and his camp had 2 years and 75 Minutes worth of solid tape to work on as Max was taking on the best of the best. Yair knew the area that Max was his strongest which is his Boxing so he had time to improve on that area where Max didn't really know how far Yair's hands had come, all he knew was he was a dynamic kicker like everyone else.

Yair's boxing leveled up and it showed tonight even getting Max to recognize it in his Post Fight Interview. People may not like Yair, but tonight he showed why he's regarded as one of the best strikers at 145.

 

[ragreynolds]

He looked great in both fights - I'd argue he looked just as good tonight. The difference is that Yair is a way tougher match-up for him than Kattar ever was. Yair's kicks, especially those leg kicks, posed a serious threat and added an extra dimension to the fight. The Kattar fight was way more straight forwards and Max mainly just had to focus on outboxing his opponent, which made it way easier for him to look better. But in reality, it was the same guy in both fights, and he looked fantastic both times.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Max landed 230 of 404 strikes.

 

[CrimsonFan]

Yairs style is like anti boxing. He was doing everything but standing infront of Max and getting into a boxing match. If Yair had stronger takedowns and was able to mix that in there he would have won that fight. Instead Max won the grappling match and took the W.

Those kicks and movement were giving Max fits on the feet.

 

[NationWideNinja]

Lets not act like this is your typical Max performance. Hes had plenty of fairly clean and one-sided wins as well

 

[achoo42]

Especially in a fight that he clearly won against a dangerous striker in Yair.

Yep. This fight only shows how much Yair has progressed in terms of striking and cardio. He clearly improved in output since the KZ fight and now has evolved into a legit striking threat in the division.

Max showed that he was able to adapt and outgrapple Yair when the striking wasn't going his way.

Max is the better boxer but Yair is the better overall striker. MMA isn't only about boxing and Yair's kicks and elbows gave him the overall edge in standup. Max was able to beat more conventional strikers like Aldo, Ortega, and Kattar but he had more trouble dealing with the kicks and elbows of an unorthodox fighter like Yair.

 

[Antix]

I don’t think it was Max looking bad tonight but Yair looking like an absolute beast and assassin tonight. Yair is a legit top 5 featherweight without a doubt.

But Max is a former champ for a reason and the bodywork + takedowns won him the fight tonight. His fight IQ is god tier.

 

[kingConor]

Sherdog cant get over their buthurt hatred of yair. Refuse to give him any praise for taking a beast like max to the limit and getting the better of him standing

 

[Venom]

The Sunday-morning opinions about Max regressing or whatever are annoying. The condition of a fighter during and after a fight is a two-way thing. It's their personal condition and how the opponent affects them.

And it's difficult if not impossible to appreciate all of the little differences in two fights and take into account the starting conditions of each. I think the best we can do is sit back and watch the general trajectory of their career, rather than pick particular points within it.

 

[achoo42]

Lets not act like this is your typical Max performance. Hes had plenty of fairly clean and one-sided wins as well

Yes, against conventional boxers like Ortega and Kattar. When Max opens up on boxers like Kattar who rely on their high guard, Max is able to exploit openings and rip through the defense using volume and accuracy.

Yair fought extremely smart. He consistently avoided standing in the pocket through head movement, footwork, and dangerous counterstrikes. It's obvious that he went into the fight with a specific gameplan directly opposed to Max's style.

The fact that Max was still able to land so many shots and win the fight is a testament to his abilities as a fighter.

 

[HHJ]

Yair's speed,constant unorthodox movement,agression and combinations def gave Max some trouble. Plus those elbows on the inside. But Max like the vet he is,took control of the fight.

Yair looked great tho.

 

[NationWideNinja]

Yes, against conventional boxers like Ortega and Kattar. When Max opens up on boxers like Kattar who rely on their high guard, Max is able to exploit openings and rip through the defense using volume and accuracy.

Yair fought extremely smart. He consistently avoided standing in the pocket through head movement, footwork, and dangerous counterstrikes. It's obvious that he went into the fight with a specific gameplan directly opposed to Max's style.

The fact that Max was still able to land so many shots and win the fight is a testament to his abilities as a fighter.

I’m not disagreeing with anything you said, just saying that Max also has fairly clean fights every once in a while

 

[Po]

Max eats a ton of shots in almost every fight he takes. He has one of the highest number of significant strikes absorbed per minute in UFC history. Just because he was dominant against Kattar doesn't mean he's dominant against every guy he fights. Do people forget that he lost to Volk and Poirier?

So no, he didn't look worse today. He has always been hittable by strong strikers—he relies on his insane chin and endurance to tank shots and counter.

Give credit to Yair for being a creative and unpredictable striker instead of saying "Max looked off" or something idiotic like that.

He arguably won both Volk fights imo especially the 2nd one

 

[achoo42]

I’m not disagreeing with anything you said, just saying that Max also has fairly clean fights every once in a while

Everyone has clean fights once in awhile. Not everyone has the highest amount of significant strikes absorbed per minute in the UFC.

See what I'm saying? People are literally criticizing the most hit fighter for getting hit a lot as if he usually doesn't get hit a lot.

 

[achoo42]

He arguably won both Volk fights imo especially the 2nd one

It's really hard to argue in favor for Max in the first fight since neither did huge damage to the other and Volk outlanded Max.

The second fight is easier to argue for Max since even though he ended up getting outlanded in the later rounds, Max still dealt the most significant damage of the whole fight.

 

[dmwalking]

Max eats a ton of shots in almost every fight he takes. He has one of the highest number of significant strikes absorbed per minute in UFC history. Just because he was dominant against Kattar doesn't mean he's dominant against every guy he fights. Do people forget that he lost to Volk and Poirier?

So no, he didn't look worse today. He has always been hittable by strong strikers—he relies on his insane chin and endurance to tank shots and counter.

Give credit to Yair for being a creative and unpredictable striker instead of saying "Max looked off" or something idiotic like that. And of course Max still conclusively won the fight which just goes to show that he can adapt to his opponent's strengths.

Exactly. Same old Max. It's a shame he doesn't invest more into defense. But so far no one has KO'd him so he just doesn't seem to feel the need to improve that part of his game.