Did Max Holloway throw the most strikes in a UFC fight?
Yes. Max Holloway threw and landed the highest number of significant strikes in a UFC fight.
Max Holloway etched his name in history and earned this unique distinction in his UFC featherweight title fight against Brian Ortega in December 2018.
As of this writing, the reports regarding the number of significant strikes Max Holloway landed in the Calvin Kattar fight are seemingly contradictory. On the one hand, veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has noted via Twitter that Holloway landed 289 significant strikes in the Kattar fight. On the other hand, the UFC stats claim that Holloway landed a record 445 significant strikes against Kattar.
If the latter is true, Max Holloway has now broken his own record with his outstanding performance at UFC Fight Island 7.
Max Holloway put on a striking clinic at UFC Fight Island 7
The MMA community is currently rife with speculation about whether Max Holloway has broken the UFC significant strikes record in his all-time-great display at UFC Fight Island 7 (January 16th, 2021). Holloway’s brilliant showing in his main event featherweight bout against Calvin Kattar was one of the most outstanding MMA performances of all time.
Max Holloway entered his UFC Fight Island 7 headlining matchup against Calvin Kattar on a two-fight losing streak. Holloway suffered back-to-back losses to current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, with his most recent fight being a split decision loss to Volkanovski in July 2020.
On the other hand, Calvin Kattar entered his UFC Fight Island 7 matchup riding a two-fight winning streak. Kattar’s last fight was a unanimous decision win over Dan Ige in July 2020.
Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar are both heralded among the best strikers in the UFC featherweight division. The combat sports world had high expectations for their matchup at UFC Fight Island 7. And to say that the fight delivered would be a severe understatement.
Holloway put on a striking masterclass. The Blessed One beat his opponent, the talented and durable Kattar, from pillar to post in their fight that went the five-round distance. Holloway bested Kattar dominantly via unanimous decision.
Did Max Holloway break his own UFC record in the Calvin Kattar fight?
The UFC commentators indicated that, with his performance against Calvin Kattar, Max Holloway might have broken the UFC record for the significant strikes landed in a UFC fight. However, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani has put forth a tweet and noted a few ‘unofficial’ statistics coming out of the Holloway vs. Kattar fight.
Helwani noted that Max Holloway landed 289 significant strikes against Calvin Kattar, whereas Holloway landed 290 significant strikes against Brian Ortega. Furthermore, the combined significant strikes in Holloway vs. Kattar were 393, whereas the combined significant strikes in Holloway vs. Ortega were 400.
Presently, although official UFC sources haven’t confirmed it as of yet, the belief is that Max Holloway hasn’t broken the significant strikes record in the Calvin Kattar fight. That said, the number of significant strikes landed by Holloway in the Calvin Kattar fight ranks at No. 2 on the list.
Intriguingly, the No. 1 spot and UFC record for the highest number of significant strikes landed in a UFC fight still belongs to Max Holloway. The Blessed One set this record with his masterful fourth-round TKO win over Brian Ortega in December 2018.
However, as we ha previously noted, if the UFC stats regarding Max Holloway landing 445 significant strikes against Calvin Kattar are correct, Holloway’s performance in the Kattar fight would take the No. 1 spot in the list of most significant strikes landed in a UFC fight.