Inspired by Khabib and Poirier, Max Holloway will auction off UFC 251 fight kit for Hawaii Foodbank

With the Hawaiian unemployment soaring during the COVID-19 pandemic, Max Holloway is doing his part to help out.

ABU DHABI – Following in the footsteps of [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] and [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag], former UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] will auction off his UFC 251 fight kit for charity after Saturday’s fight.

In a public service announcement posted Tuesday on Twitter, Holloway announced his decision to donate his kit to Hawaii Foodbank in an effort to raise money for those affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a pre-fight media day held Tuesday, Holloway elaborated on the donation. He praised Nurmagomedov and Poirier’s past efforts and cited high Hawaiian unemployment rates as his motivation to help those in need.

“Shout out to my brothers Khabib and Dustin,” Holloway told MMA Junkie. “When they came here in September and did their thing, that really motivated me, especially with all the pandemic and stuff. Me and my team sat down, and like 95 percent of our work now is trying to help charity and charity work. What we’re gonna do is, my whole fight kit, I’m gonna be auctioning it off. And every single penny I make off of it we’re gonna donate to the (Hawaii Foodbank).

“The unemployment rate right now in Hawaii is at, like, 40 percent – an all-time high. I’m getting food on my table, so if I can give back to my people and try to get food on their table, and this is the way to do it, this is the way we gotta go.”

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On the eve of his UFC on ESPN 12 main event victory against Dan Hooker, Poirier was awarded the UFC’s inaugural “Forrest Griffin Community Award” for his charitable efforts with “The Good Fight Foundation.” Poirier’s actions, in particular, touched his former opponent Holloway.

“(Poirier’s) been inspiring me a lot in a lot of ways when he’s doing stuff outside of fighting,” Holloway said. “We’re more than athletes. We’re trying to be bigger than the sport, and this is one of the things that I know I can help myself and help my people.”

Check out the announcement video below:

UFC 251 takes place Saturday at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.