KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] is open to a return to lightweight.
The former UFC featherweight champion competed once at lightweight when he faced Dustin Poirier for the interim title in 2019 UFC 236. Holloway fell short in a back-and-forth war and has since dropped back down to 145 pounds.
While Holloway (23-7 MMA, 19-7 UFC) is focused on re-gaining his title at featherweight, he sees lightweight potentially in his future.
“I feel like if they thought that we couldn’t make (a fourth fight with Alexander Volkanovski), they probably would have pressed our hand and pressed us hard like, ‘Look, you should go to 155.’ And that wasn’t the case,” Holloway told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 44 media day. “So at the end of the day, we get to see. But 155 is not out of the case. It’s there. It’s always there. I know I can jump there tomorrow if I wanted to, but it’s always great going up with a belt.”
Holloway is naturally a big featherweight, so he says he wouldn’t change much if he decided to give lightweight another shot.
“I mean, I would love to fight and get busy and 155,” Holloway said. “Like I said, it’s not that far off, man. I mean, I had a very competitive fight with Poirier in the rematch, and he used to be top three in the world at 155 right now?
“And then you know Alex did his thing against Islam. Again, styles make fights. We’re proving that like, we’re right there amongst the top. So at the end of the day, I don’t know, bro. But I am Polynesian, I’m Samoan-Hawaiian, we love food, so I think gaining weight is not going to be a problem.”
Holloway returns to action in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 44 headliner when he faces streaking contender Arnold Allen (19-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC) at T-Mobile Center. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 44.