Max Holloway - The toughest fighter for more than one reason
In 2012, Max Holloway made his UFC debut at just 20 years of age, where he jumped in as an injury replacement for Ricardo Lamas at UFC 143. However, he lost the fight via a first-round submission to Dustin Poirier.
Regardless, that kickstarted an illustrious career, which saw Holloway reach the epitome of the featherweight division, with age and prime still on his side. At 28, he has competed 22 times for the world's biggest MMA promotion and inside UFC, his journey from a young Hawaiian boy to a sporting veteran is a remarkable achievement of pure grit and hard work.
Holloway incorporates a wide array of shots in his striking game. With 21 wins in his MMA career, he boasted an impeccable 14-fight winning streak in the featherweight division, which came to a halt at UFC 245 in December - courtesy of Alexander Volkanovski.
However, it's important to note the quality fighters Holloway had to overcome before strapping the UFC gold around his waist.
Holloway has never been finished inside the Octagon
After losing to Poirier on his UFC debut, Holloway quickly picked up a three-fight win streak in the same year. He lost his next fight against Dennis Bermudez in a controversial split decision. However, UFC found Holloway as the next best opponent for then rising prospect, Conor McGregor.
The Notorious One had made a name for himself as one of the UFC's best finishers. With all his victories coming off a KO/TKO inside two rounds, McGregor posted a challenge like no other to Holloway.
At UFC Fight Night in August 2013, Holloway squared off against McGregor, in what was the first time where Conor failed to finish his opponent. Even to this day, he remains the only opponent besides Nate Diaz at welterweight to have lasted until the final bell against McGregor, where the latter was victorious.
Other than his defeat by Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, this remains the only fight where McGregor failed to earn an "of the Night" bonus award.
The 14 fight win-streak
Holloway has faced the featherweight division's best fighters. If his display against McGregor was not a true testament of his tough chin and ferocious tenacity, he improved leaps and bounds after that defeat, establishing himself as one of the greatest among the division.
With that in mind, he holds notable victories against former champion Jose Aldo on two occasions, finishing him on both occasions via third-round TKOs at UFC 212 and 218. Only the second figher to finish Aldo, he's also the only one to do it twice.
He also snapped Brian Ortega's 14 fight win-streak (MMA) and six fight win-streak inside UFC, handing him his first loss inside the Octagon. In addition, he boasts notable victories over former champion Anthony Pettis and Frankie Edgar. With wins over top-level athletes like Ricardo Lamas, Jeremy Stephens, and Cub Swanson, Max's consistency at the highest level means he's already established himself as an all-time great at just 28-years-old.
Holloway has never lost a fight via KO/TKO, with his most recent loss to Volkanovski at UFC 245 coming via unanimous decision.
While the world is preparing for a huge showdown in Australia for a rematch against Volkanovski, Holloway's impressive resume will always speak very highly of him regardless of the result. With age and his prime years still ahead of him, one waits to see what more Holloway can achieve inside the Octagon.