"It took a whole lot of work" - Max Holloway shares message for doubters questioning his weight before UFC 308 clash with Ilia Topuria
Max Holloway said he has a solid support system to help him make weight for the upcoming UFC 308 title fight against featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. Holloway, the former 145-pound title holder, competed at lightweight in his last outing when he defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
This was the Hawaiian fighter's second fight at lightweight. Unlike the previous UFC 236 appearance, his size parity, musculature, and punching power witnessed against Gaethje have led many to believe that the 32-year-old might have a difficult weight cut for featherweight.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Holloway addressed this speculation:
"Everybody keeps talking about weight coming to this fight. the whole question about the last fight was weight. And now the whole question about this fight is the weight because of what we did in the last fight. It is what it is. I've got the best person behind me. I've got my wife. She's chefing it up."
He added:
"I've got my man Tyler Minton back on the team. He's going to be out there with us for the fight week. He's one of the best guys in the business but I never missed weight. I've never missed no weight in my whole career. And I ain't planning on starting on to miss weight for this fight. Because this fight... it took a whole lot of work to get back here."
Check out Max Holloway's comments below (11:55):
Tyler Minten helped Holloway recover when the former featherweight champion hit a rough career patch in 2018. Holloway was forced out of his UFC 226 fight against Brian Ortega due to concussion-like symptoms and other health complications. However, he returned to competition five months later and scored a resounding win against Ortega.
Max Holloway is focused on the "task at hand", plans to solve the issue of weight cutting like a "professional"
In another video posted on his YouTube channel, Max Holloway shared his thoughts on the potential complications that may arise during the weight cut. While admitting that he does not know the clear answer, Holloway said:
"People keep asking if it's harder to go back down to 145 after fighting at 155. The answer is quite normal. If you're professional about it, you're going to figure out a way. It might be tough, whatever... I don't really know... I don't really see the difference. I've been fighting forever so it's hard to tell you what the difference is. I'm just focused at the task at hand."
Check out Max Holloway's comments below (4:13):
Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway will headline the UFC 308 pay-per-view event scheduled to take place on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.